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.

The role of male partner in utilization of maternal health care services in Ethiopia: a community-based couple study.

BACKGROUND: Ethiopia has recorded substantial progress in maternal health recently. However, poor utilization of maternal health care services is challenging further improvement. Although male partners are decision-makers in households, the impact of their involvement on maternal health care services has not been well studied. Thus, the objective of this study was to examine the association between male partners' involvement in maternal health care on utilization of maternal health care services. METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted on male/female couples with a baby less than 6 months old (N = 210) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The main independent variable of the study was male partners' involvement in maternal health care. Two structured questionnaires were used to collect the data from men and women. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to examine the relationship between the dependent and independent variables. RESULTS: Mean age in years was 28.7 (SD = 5.4) for women and 36.2 (SD = 8.8) for men. Half of the men (51.4%) have accompanied their partner to antenatal care (ANC) at least once. However, only 23.1% of them have physically entered the ANC room together. Overall involvement of male partners was poor in 34.8% of the couples (involved in two or fewer activities). After controlling for other covariates, the odds of having 1st ANC visit within the first trimester of pregnancy and skilled delivery attendant at birth were higher in women whose male partners took time to know what happened during ANC visits (AOR = 1.93; 95%CI = 1.04-3.60; AOR = 2.93; 95%CI = 1.24-5.6.90, respectively). Similarly, the odds of having at least one ANC visit, first ANC visit within twelve weeks, HIV testing, skilled birth attendant, and birth in a health facility were higher in couples with higher overall male partner involvement. CONCLUSION: The study demonstrated significant associations between male partners' involvement in maternal health care and utilization of some maternal health care services by female partners.

Intimate partner violence and utilization of maternal health care services in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Despite its prominence, intimate partner violence (IPV) against women has received little attention in Ethiopia. And as many of sub-Saharan African countries, maternal health care services utilization remains poor. Full access and utilization of maternal health care services is a key to significant reduction in maternal and child mortality, and eliminate new HIV infection in infants. Identifying the factors that contribute to the poor access and utilization should aid the design of appropriate policy and intervention strategies. Thus the objective of this study was to examine the association between IPV and use of maternal health care services in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. METHODS: A cross sectional study on couples (N = 210; male/female pairs) with an infant less than 6 months of age was conducted. The dependent variable was use of maternal health care services and the main independent variable was IPV. Data was collected using face-to-face self-reported questionnaires and analyzed using SPSS version 20.0. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to examine the relationship between the dependent and independent variables. RESULTS: The mean age of the women was 28.7 years (SD = 5.4), on average women were 7.4 years (SD = 7.4) younger than their partners. Although most of the women (95.2%) had at least one antenatal care (ANC), only 35 (2%) had ≥4 ANC visits and about half (49.0%) had their first ANC visit within the first trimester. Women who experienced emotional IPV in their relationship were less likely to have their 1st ANC within three months of pregnancy (AOR = 0.69; 95%CI = 0.49-0.96). Women who reported physical IPV in their relationship were less likely to use ≥4 ANC (AOR = 0.48; 95%CI = 0.21-0.71), be tested for HIV (AOR = 0.26; 95%CI = 0.09-0.79), have skilled delivery attendant (AOR = 0.31; 95%CI = 0.12-0.98), and deliver in a health facility (AOR = 0.35; 95%CI = 0.14-0.88). Likewise, women experienced sexual IPV or partner control in their relationship were less likely to use ANC ≥4 times (AORsexual-IPV = 0.91; 95%CI = 0.84-0.98 and AORpartner-control = 0.38; 95%CI = 0.17-0.85 respectively). CONCLUSIONS: IPV is prevalent among couples in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where three out of four women reported having experienced one or more type of IPV in their current relationship. And all types of IPV showed significant association with poor utilization of one or more maternal health care services. Thus efforts to sustain the recent success in maternal health and further improvement should give due consideration to IPV.