Gender-based violence among youths in eastern Ethiopia

Abstract

Gender-based violence (GBV) is a global public health issue and in developing countries like Ethiopia, the rate is particularly high. GBV has devastating physical and mental health effects on youths and affects educational performance. Gender inequality and discrimination, absence of power and control, social norms, the condoning of abuse, and political, economic, cultural, and religious aspects are some of the underlying factors for GBV. There are a number of cross-sectional studies on GBV in Ethiopia. However, the results from these studies are limited as they focus on sexual violence only (while youths are experiencing or perpetrating multiple types of GBV), use non-validated tools, are not representative of the general population, and have not researched GBV perpetration by male high school students in Ethiopia. Little is known about the extent of different types of GBV in the Ethiopian school setting. Therefore, one of the aims of this thesis was to determine GBV among youths in the Ethiopian school setting. A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted, which found a high prevalence of GBV and suggested effective prevention and intervention in sub-Saharan Africa. The meta-analysis found that GBV is very high among young students in educational institutions; therefore, a research project was designed to determine the GBV among high school students aged 15-24 years in eastern Ethiopia.