At least 25% of females from six out of seven countries studied and 10% of males in four of the countries reported suffering from sexual violence before age 18 years.
Researchers surveyed adults aged 18-24 years in Cambodia, Haiti, Kenya, Malawi, Swaziland, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. Data were collected through household surveys from 2007 to 2013 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in partnership with host country governments, communities, and academic institutions.
The definition of sexual violence used in this survey included unwanted touching, unwanted attempted sex, pressured/coerced sex, and forced sex. For all countries that participated in the survey other than Swaziland and Malawi, sex was defined as vaginal/anal penetration by the penis, hands, fingers, mouth, or objects, or oral penetration by the penis, except in Swaziland (penetration of vagina or anus by penis only) and Malawi (oral, vaginal, or anal sex, or vaginal/anal object insertion).
Of the countries studied, Swaziland and Zimbabwe had the highest percentages of females that suffered from childhood sexual violence; the rates were 37.6% in Swaziland and 32.5% in Zimbabwe. In Haiti, the largest percentage of males reported having been victims of sexual violence under the age of 18; while the rate was 21.2% for males, an even higher rate – 25.7% – of females in Haiti reported suffering from childhood sexual violence.
Cambodia reported the lowest rates of childhood sexual violence for both females and males, at 4.4% and 5.6%. respectively.
Despite the high percentage of the study’s sample that suffered from childhood sexual violence, only 10% or less of male and female victims in most of the countries studied received services such as health care, legal/security aid, counseling support, or child protective services. Female victims in Haiti, Swaziland, and Tanzania were most often provided with services, with rates ranging from 10% in Haiti to 24% in Swaziland.
“Despite myriad adverse effects of sexual violence, in this study, most persons who reported experiencing it during childhood did not receive services for their abuse,” according to Dr. Steven A. Sumner of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Atlanta, and his colleagues. “Although the control and response to violence traditionally has been seen as the responsibility of law enforcement and social welfare, health sectors can integrate violence prevention and care into routine programmatic activities, building clear links to social services to achieve maximal benefit for various health measures.”
Read the full study in MMWR.