Correlates of Sexual Violence Among Female Domestic Servants in Addis Ababa: The Case of Arada Sub-City
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Date
2009-07
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Women all over the world face differenr forms of violence such as physical, poychological, sexual
and deprivation. The problem is even more serious and complicated in developing countries
where gender issue is at its stage of infancy. Among others, sexual violence has a profound
impact on the physical and mental health of women. As well as causing physical injury, it is
associated with an increased risk of a range of sexual and reproductive health problems, with
both long-term and immediate consequences. In particular, female domestic servants who are
living in difficult circumstances need special attention on this regard. To defend these girls and
women from these problems the root causes of sexual violence should be explored. In this
regard, this study was explored the correlates of sexual violence among female domestic
servants in Arada Sub-City, Addis Ababa.
The main purpose of this study was to explore the correlates of sexual violence among female
domestic servants. Besides, it was concerned to assess the prevalence of sexual violence among
them and their disclosure status. This cross-sectional study employed multistage cluster
sampling technique to identify the sample population. It also used primary data collected using
structured questionnaire and complementary focus group discussion (FGD) to test the
formulated hypothesis. Finally, descriptive statistics were generated to determine the prevalence
and context of sexual victimization experienced by female domestic servants, and logistic
regression model was used to identify the associated risk factors.
Among the 815 female domestic servants interviewed, 59.9 percent were ever harassed and 42.6
percent experienced sexual harassment in the current year. The prevalence of life time attempted
and completed rape was reported to be 44.6 percent and 33.4 percent respectively. Besides, 23.3
percent and 16.3 percent respectively experienced attempted and completed rape for the current
year. Only 11.6 percent of the victims disclosed the incidents they faced to other people or police
immediately and 17.2 percent disclosed at or after the incidents occurred. In this respect, 97.1
percent of the victims were perpetrated by the people they knew.The study depicted that Sexual violence in the current year was significantly associated with
female domestic servants' age, childhood sexual abuse, witnessing violence, income, living
arrangement, sexual experience, age at first sex , current marital status, work experience and
their altitude towards forced sex ..
Based on the findings of the study, it can be concluded that a substantial proportion of female
domestic servants in the sample reported experiences of rape, attempted rape or other forms of
forced sexual contact, indicating a need for formulating relevant employment policies and
specific laws concerning female domestic servants. Besides, raise the awareness of female
domestic servants, the justice personnel and the society concerning the devastating nature of
sexual violence and establishing counseling and victims support service centers to minimize the
problem.
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Keywords
Correlates of Sexual Violence