Sexual Violence and Associated Factors Among Female Students at Debre Berhan University, Ethiopia

Background and objective Sexual violence is a common and serious public health issue affecting millions of women at all stages of their lives. Studies have shown that women in Ethiopia are among the highly affected. There is no study in the literature as yet on the prevalence and factors associated with sexual violence among female students of Debre Berhan University (DBU), Ethiopia. In light of this, this study aimed to assess the prevalence of sexual violence and associated factors among female students at DBU. Methods A Cross-sectional institution-based study was conducted in May 2016 among female regular undergraduate students of DBU. Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Descriptive, binary, and multivariable logistic regression analyses were carried out. Results A total of 627 female students completed the questionnaire (response rate: 91.5%). The mean (SD) age of the students was 20.7 (1.65) years. More than half (54.9%) of the students have been victims of sexual violence in their life. More than one-third (35.6%) of the students have experienced rape, attempted rape, or sexual harassment while they are in DBU. Sexual harassment was the most common form of sexual violence ever experienced by female students (51.8%) followed by attempted rape (12.8%) and rape (9.8%). More than half of the rape victims (35, 57.3%) did not share their experiences with anyone. Multiple logistic regression analyses revealed that Khat-chewing habit and marital status were significantly associated with rape. Conclusion Sexual violence, in general, is high among female students at DBU. Most of the sexual violence occurs outside of the campus and the perpetrators are mostly known to the victims and are trusted and loved by them. Further broad and longitudinal studies are needed to determine the predictors of the problem among female students at DBU and Ethiopia as a whole.