Nepal Health Sector Programme 3, Monitoring, Evaluation and Operational Research, Abt Associates, Lalitpur, Nepal.
Nepal Health Research Council, Kathmandu, Nepal.
PLoS One. 2021 Mar 18;16(3):e0248566. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0248566. eCollection 2021.
Globally violence is a matter of public health concern with severe physical and mental health implications and social consequences. Evidence suggest that adolescents have an elevated risk of exposure to physical and sexual violence. However, there is a lack of nationally representative research on violence and its associated factors in Nepal to inform interventions. This paper attempts to find the factors associated with various forms of physical and sexual violence among school-going adolescents in Nepal.
We analysed the cross-sectional data from the Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS) 2015. The GSHS survey applied a two-stage cluster sampling process to select a representative sample of 7 to 11 grade students from 74 schools across the country. We applied logistic regression analysis to identify the factors associated with physical and sexual violence.
Out of the total 6,529 participants, 45.24% of them faced a physical attack, 39.25% were involved in a physical fight, and 11.65% were victims of sexual violence in the survey administered between 7 August 2015 to 14 March 2016. In a multiple regression analysis, the age of participants, parental supervision, feeling unsafe at school, and the number of close friends were found to be associated with a physical attack. Participants who were bullied, had multiple sex partners, and had received corporal punishment in school had a higher engagement in a physical fight. Likewise, school grade, having parents who understand the problems, having multiple sex partners, and corporal punishment at school were associated with instances of sexual violence.
The study identified multiple factors associated with experiences of physical attacks, involvement in a physical fight, and sexual violence among school-going adolescents. This study results can have important implications for school administration, parents, and policymakers alike to plan appropriate anti-violence strategies and interventions. Since various forms of violence share some common risk factors, a comprehensive strategy could be worth considering to prevent such acts of violence.
全球范围内，暴力是一个公共卫生问题，对身心健康和社会后果都有严重影响。有证据表明，青少年面临更高的身体和性暴力风险。然而，尼泊尔缺乏全国代表性的暴力及其相关因素研究，无法为干预措施提供信息。本文试图在尼泊尔的在校青少年中发现与各种形式的身体和性暴力相关的因素。
我们分析了 2015 年全球学校学生健康调查（GSHS）的横断面数据。GSHS 调查采用两阶段聚类抽样过程，从全国 74 所学校中选择了 7 至 11 年级的代表性样本。我们应用逻辑回归分析来确定与身体和性暴力相关的因素。
在 6529 名参与者中，45.24%的人在调查中遭受过身体攻击，39.25%的人参与过身体打架，11.65%的人遭受过性暴力。在多变量回归分析中，参与者的年龄、父母监管、在学校感到不安全以及亲密朋友的数量与身体攻击有关。被欺负、有多个性伴侣和在学校受到体罚的参与者更有可能参与身体打架。同样，学校年级、父母理解问题、有多个性伴侣和在学校受到体罚与性暴力事件有关。
本研究确定了与在校青少年遭受身体攻击、参与身体打架和性暴力有关的多个因素。这项研究结果对学校管理部门、家长和决策者都具有重要意义，可以帮助他们制定适当的反暴力策略和干预措施。由于各种形式的暴力有一些共同的风险因素，因此全面的策略可能值得考虑，以预防此类暴力行为。
