Patterns of sexual violence against adults and children during the COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya: a prospective cross-sectional study.
BMJ Open
; 11(9): e048636, 2021 09 06.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1398675
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
This study examined patterns of sexual violence against adults and children in Kenya during the COVID-19 pandemic to inform sexual violence prevention, protection, and response efforts.DESIGN:
A prospective cross-sectional research design was used with data collected from March to August 2020.SETTING:
Kenya.PARTICIPANTS:
317 adults, 224 children. MAINMEASURES:
Perpetrator and survivor demographic data, characteristics of the assault.RESULTS:
Bivariate analyses found that children were more likely than adults to be attacked during daytime (59% vs 44%, p<0.001) by a single perpetrator rather than multiple perpetrators (31% vs 13%, p<0.001) in a private as opposed to a public location (66% vs 45%, p<0.001) and by someone known to the child (76% vs 58%, p<0.001). Children were violated most often by neighbours (29%) and family members (20%), whereas adults were equally likely to be attacked by strangers (41%) and persons known to them (59%). These variables were entered as predictors into a logistic regression model that significantly predicted the age group of the survivor, χ2(5, n=541)=53.3, p<0.001.CONCLUSIONS:
Patterns of sexual violence against adult and child survivors during the COVID-19 pandemic are different, suggesting age-related measures are needed in national emergency plans to adequately address sexual violence during the pandemic and for future humanitarian crises.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Sex Offenses
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Adult
/
Child
/
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Africa
Language:
English
Journal:
BMJ Open
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Bmjopen-2021-048636
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