Citation

Decker MR, Peitzmeier S, Olumide A, Acharya R, Ojengbede O, Covarrubias L, Gao E, Cheng Y, Delany-Moretlwe S, Brahmbhatt H. J. Adolesc. Health 2014; 55(6 Suppl): S58-67.

Affiliation

Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jadohealth.2014.08.022

PMID

25454004

Abstract

PURPOSE: Globally, adolescent women are at risk for gender-based violence (GBV) including sexual violence and intimate partner violence (IPV). Those in economically distressed settings are considered uniquely vulnerable.

METHODS: Female adolescents aged 15-19 from Baltimore, Maryland, USA; New Delhi, India; Ibadan, Nigeria; Johannesburg, South Africa; and Shanghai, China (n = 1,112) were recruited via respondent-driven sampling to participate in a cross-sectional survey. We describe the prevalence of past-year physical and sexual IPV, and lifetime and past-year non-partner sexual violence. Logistic regression models evaluated associations of GBV with substance use, sexual and reproductive health, mental health, and self-rated health.

RESULTS: Among ever-partnered women, past-year IPV prevalence ranged from 10.2% in Shanghai to 36.6% in Johannesburg. Lifetime non-partner sexual violence ranged from 1.2% in Shanghai to 12.6% in Johannesburg. Where sufficient cases allowed additional analyses (Baltimore and Johannesburg), both IPV and non-partner sexual violence were associated with poor health across domains of substance use, sexual and reproductive health, mental health, and self-rated health; associations varied across study sites.

CONCLUSIONS: Significant heterogeneity was observed in the prevalence of IPV and non-partner sexual violence among adolescent women in economically distressed urban settings, with upwards of 25% of ever-partnered women experiencing past-year IPV in Baltimore, Ibadan, and Johannesburg, and more than 10% of adolescent women in Baltimore and Johannesburg reporting non-partner sexual violence.

FINDINGS affirm the negative health influence of GBV even in disadvantaged urban settings that present a range of competing health threats. A multisectoral response is needed to prevent GBV against young women, mitigate its health impact, and hold perpetrators accountable.

Language: en