Prevalence, pattern and determinants of sexual violence against female students of tertiary institutions in Gusau, Zamfara State.

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Background: Sexual violence constitutes any act, attempt to obtain a sexual act, unwanted sexual comments or advances against a person’s sexuality using coercion by any person regardless of their relationship to the victim, in any setting, including but not limited to home and work. It includes rape, which has been defined as physically forced or coerced penetration however slight- of the vulva or anus using penis, other body parts or an object. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence, pattern and determinants of sexual violence amongst female students of tertiary institutions in Gusau. Methodology: This was a descriptive cross sectional study conducted among female students in tertiary educational institutions in Gusau, Zamfara State in North-western Nigeria. Only students who have spent at least a semester in the school were included in the study using multistage sampling technique. Data was obtained using self-administered structured questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS version 25. A p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Result: Three hundred and two students have responded to the questionnaire. The mean age of the participants is 20.88 with a standard deviation of 3.815 predominantly Hausa/Fulani ethnic group (80.1%), while the least ethnic group was Igbo (4.6%). The prevalence of sexual violence is 35.1%, of which, rape had the highest frequency 44 (44.0%); This is followed by unwanted sexual advances, demanding sex for favour, and fondling of sensitive body parts in order of decreasing frequency. There was statistically significant difference between those that experienced sexual violence and those that did not in terms of mode of residence, level of study, nature of cloth worn, attending social gathering, alcohol consumption, and drug consumption with a p-value of 0.006, 0.010, <0.001, <0.001, <0.001, <0.001 respectively. Multivariate logistic regression model shows that level of study, attending social gathering, alcohol consumption, and drug consumption are independent predictors of sexual violence against women in the studied population. Conclusion: This study concludes that the prevalence of sexual violence is still high in our tertiary institutions and rape happens to be the most predominant form of sexual violence recorded. Attending social gathering, alcohol consumption and drug consumption are independent predictors of sexual violence amongst women studied. The incidence is not reported to the relevant authorities majorly due to fear of stigmatisation or threat by the perpetrators.