Citation

Mahmoud Ael D. J. Egypt Public Health Assoc. 2015; 90(3): 109-114.

Affiliation

Community Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Beni Suef University, Beni Suef, Egypt.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Lippicott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/01.EPX.0000471203.34165.bd

PMID

26544839

Abstract

BACKGROUND: A large proportion of the female population all over the world, particularly in developing countries, experience some form of gender-based violence (GBV) during their life. Early marriage, a form of GBV, is particularly highly prevalent in rural Upper Egypt.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the current study was to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of adolescents in Upper Egypt on domestic GBV, with a focus on early girls' marriage. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: The study was a cross-sectional descriptive household survey targeting 400 randomly selected adolescent boys and girls aged 11-16 years from five villages of Minya Governorate in Upper Egypt.

RESULTS: The proportion of interviewed adolescents who could identify certain practices as forms of GBV was relatively low: the identified practices were mainly deprivation of work (9.0%), deprivation of inheritance (3.3%), arbitrary neglect and desertion (2.8%), and preventing from visiting relatives (0.5%). Abusive sexual behavior was not identified by any of the study participants as a form of domestic GBV. A total of 112 boys (56.0%) reported that they have been perpetrators in domestic GBV events at least once and 118 girls (59.0%) reported that they have been actual victims of domestic GBV. An overall 65.6% of study participants could correctly identify the legal age of marriage as 18 years, yet only 22.0% identified earlier ages of marriage as a form of domestic GBV. The vast majority of girls and boys reported that they would not agree to get married before the age of 18 years (91.0 and 87.0%, respectively).

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS: Adolescents in Upper Egypt demonstrated a less than satisfactory knowledge about the forms of GBV. Although early girls' marriage was not universally recognized by adolescents as a form of domestic GBV, they demonstrated satisfactory knowledge about the legal age of marriage, as well as a tendency to abandon the practice. Establishing a community-based awareness program for adolescents of both sexes about GBV with a focus on early girls' marriage is highly recommended.

Language: en