Objective To explore risk factors for sexual violence in childhood in a nationally
representative sample of females aged 13 to 24 years in Swaziland.
Methods During a household survey respondents were asked to report
any experiences of sexual violence before the age of 18 years. The association
between childhood sexual violence and several potential demographic and social
risk factors was explored through bivariate and multivariate logistic regression.
Findings Participants totalled 1244. Compared with respondents who had
been close to their biological mothers as children, those who had not been close
to her had higher odds of having experienced sexual violence (crude odds ratio,
COR: 1.89; 95% CI: 1.14–3.14), as did those who had had no relationship with
her at all (COR: 1.93; 95% CI: 1.34–2.80). In addition, greater odds of childhood
sexual violence were noted among respondents who were not attending school
when the violence occurred (COR: 2.26; 95% CI: 1.70–3.01); who were
emotionally abused as children (COR: 2.04; 95% CI: 1.50–2.79); and who knew
of another child who had been sexually assaulted (COR: 1.77; 95% CI: 1.31–
2.40) or was having sex with a teacher (COR: 2.07; 95% CI: 1.59–2.69).
Childhood sexual violence was positively associated with the number of people
the respondent had lived with at any one time (COR: 1.03; 95% CI: 1.01–1.06).
Conclusion Inadequate supervision or guidance and an unstable
environment put girls at risk of sexual violence. Greater educational opportunities
and an improved mother-daughter relationship could help prevent it.