Prevalence and Types of Gender-Based Violence Among Secondary School Students in Southwest, Nigeria.

Abstract

Background: Gender-based violence (GBV) continues to be a significant public health issue. Although it preventable, its recurrence presents teenagers with a number of negative implications that may extend into the future. Globally, one in every three women has experienced some type of violence. Young people are particularly vulnerable; a total of 73 million males and 150 million females are being considered to be impacted.

Methods: This study was a cross-sectional study that used a multistage sampling technique to recruit 909 in-school students from 6 secondary schools (3 public and 3 private) in Ibadan North LGA, Oyo State, Nigeria between May to July 2023. A pretested semi-structured self-administered questionnaire, with close- and open-ended questions was used for data collection. Data was analyzed using IBM SPSS version 25. Level of significance was p-value≤ 0.05.

Result: The modal age-group was 12-14 years (54.7%). The overall prevalence of GBV was 65.5%, male (66.1%) and female (64.9%) are almost equally affected, with majority occurring among females in private schools (67.4%, p=0.119). Verbal violence was most common form of GBV experienced by adolescents (55.9%) .

Conclusion:  GBV occurs among adolescents. Both males and females are affected and the spectrum of types of violence is similar to older individuals; thus, a need to help this group. There is a need for supportive services within secondary schools, early and gender-responsive interventions to promote gender equality, prevent them from being victims of violence and school authorities to actively prevent experience of GBV among students.