Violence Against Children and Associated Factors Among High School Students in Jimma Town

Abstract

Abstract Experiencing violence in childhood impacts lifelong health and well-being. Yet being subject to violence at a young age causes enduring psychological, social and neurological vandalism which stops people reaching their full potential in life. Violence against children includes all forms of violence against people under 18 years old ; therefore the purpose of this study is to determine the magnitude of violence against children and associated factors among sampled high school students in Jimma town. Method: Institution based crossectional study was employed among sampled 423 private and public high school students of Jimma town from february15-30, 2018. Self-administered structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. A multi stage with proportional to sample size was employed. Result: A total of 419 respondents participated in the study, making the response rate 99%. A large proportion of the study subjects, 57.5 %, were females, and 56.3% were Oromo’s. The study indicates that the prevalence of violence among high school children’s’ in Jimma town is 62.5%. Children who had faced severe physical violence accounted for 14.1%. Pertaining to parental relationships and interactions, the majority of the school children (66.3%) did not have free discussion on reproductive health issues with their parents or guardians. Conclusion: The prevalence of any form of violence in life time (Physical, sexual and psychological) found to be high. Of all children who experienced violence near to half of them encountered mild physical violence. Less number of school children had experience of Kchat chewing and/or alcohol use.