Estimating sexual violence prevalence among young women and girls: a statistical analysis of demographic and health surveys from low- and middle-income countries

Abstract

Sexual violence is an urgent public health issue which has significant negative repercussions for the health and wellbeing of women across the globe. Existing evidence suggests that experiences of sexual violence are common early in life, with young women and girls 18 or younger at high risk of violence. However, there is limited information available for these age groups due to ethical and legal challenges associated with collecting data directly from children and adolescents. To help fill this evidence gap and estimate patterns of women’s early experiences of sexual violence, data from 47 Demographic and Health Surveys in 33 low- and middle-income countries were synthesized. Using these data and women’s reported ages at first exposure to sexual violence, a synthetic cohort analytical approach was employed to estimate prevalence of sexual violence among young women and girls over time. Among 34,065 women who had ever experienced sexual violence and recalled their age at first exposure, 25.4% reported experiencing their first event by age 15 and 52.4% reported experiencing sexual violence for the first time before turning 19. On average over the years estimated for each country, lifetime prevalence of sexual violence among 15-year-olds ranged from 0.411% in Myanmar to 12.2% in Uganda. Given the life-long impacts of sexual violence, findings underscore the need for policies and prevention efforts informed by the unique experiences of young women and girls.