Division of Sustainable Development, College of Science and Engineering, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha, Qatar.
Faculty of Public Health, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
Afr Health Sci. 2022 Jun;22(2):79-87. doi: 10.4314/ahs.v22i2.10.
Gender-based violence (GBV) has been identified to be one of the ripple effects of the global pandemic. In countries like Nigeria, the situation is hypothesized to be worse because of widespread poverty and gender inequalities.
To examine the exposure of females to GBV during the first 3 months of the COVID-19 lockdown.
This cross-sectional study was conducted in a low-income community in Lagos. Semi-structured questionnaires were administered to 130 respondents selected via systematic random sampling.
The mean age of the respondents was 26.89 ± 8.67 years. Majority worked informal jobs, while only 50% had attained beyond primary education. Within the period, the respondents had been subjected to sexual (54.6%), physical (52.3%), verbal assault (41.5%), and online sexual harassment (45.4%); of which only 30% reported to the police. Furthermore, respondents subjected to sexual (p=0.004) and physical assault (p=0.032) during the period earned significantly less money than other respondents.
The fact that over 1 out of every 2 females was subjected to at least one form of GBV within the short timeframe shows how unsafe girls and women in low-income communities are. This calls for proactive community-level interventions to curb the GBV menace.
性别暴力（GBV）已被确定为全球大流行的连锁反应之一。在尼日利亚等国家，由于普遍存在贫困和性别不平等，情况预计会更糟。
调查女性在 COVID-19 封锁的头 3 个月期间遭受性别暴力的情况。
本横断面研究在拉各斯的一个低收入社区进行。通过系统随机抽样选择了 130 名受访者进行半结构式问卷调查。
受访者的平均年龄为 26.89 ± 8.67 岁。大多数人从事非正规工作，只有 50%的人接受过小学以上教育。在此期间，受访者遭受过性暴力（54.6%）、身体暴力（52.3%）、言语攻击（41.5%）和网络性骚扰（45.4%）；其中只有 30%向警方报案。此外，在该期间遭受过性暴力（p=0.004）和身体暴力（p=0.032）的受访者的收入明显低于其他受访者。
在短时间内，超过 1/2 的女性至少遭受过一种形式的性别暴力，这表明低收入社区的女孩和妇女是多么不安全。这需要采取积极的社区层面干预措施来遏制性别暴力的威胁。
