Abstract:

Objective: Sexual violence is a completed or attempted sex act against the victim’s will or involving a victim who is un­able to consent such as abusive sexual contact, forced abortion, forced prostitution, trafficking, non-contact sexual abuse and female genital mutilation. The Purpose of the study was to assess prevalence of sexual violence and health related effects among students in co-education public day secondary schools in kinondoni municipality, Dar es Salaam.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study in Kinondoni municipality, Dar es Salaam region. Form four students were systematically selected from 5 randomly selected co-education public day secondary schools which were Makoka, Kigogo, Makurumla, Turiani and Manzese. Self-administered questionnaire with closed ended questions were administered.

Results: A total of 430 form 4 students from 5 out of 48 coeducation public day secondary schools with mean age 17.5±1.0 years, range of 15-22 years participated in this study. About 216 (50.2%) experienced at least one form of sexual violence. Chi square test showed higher proportion of students (61.5) who were victims of sexual violence were aged ≥ 18 years than those (41.9%) aged <18 years (P value < 0.05). About 39(33.3%) of 117 female victims were impregnated. Higher proportion (45.6%) of 215 students experienced Low self-esteem by higher proportion (59.3%) of female than male students (28.9%) (p value <0.001).

Study limitations: Concealment of information due to sensitivity of questions asked during interviews.

Conclusion: This study has shown that sexual violence and health related effects were reported more by female than male students.

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