A large proportion of the female population all over the
world, particularly in developing countries, experience some form of
gender-based violence (GBV) during their life. Early marriage, a form of GBV,
is particularly highly prevalent in rural Upper Egypt.
The aim of the current study was to assess the knowledge,
attitudes and practices (KAP) of adolescents in Upper Egypt on domestic GBV,
with a focus on early girls' marriage.
The study was a cross-sectional descriptive household survey
targeting 400 randomly selected adolescent boys and girls aged 11-16 years from
five villages of Minya Governorate in Upper Egypt.
The proportion of interviewed adolescents who could identify
certain practices as forms of GBV was relatively low: the identified practices
were mainly deprivation of work (9.0%), deprivation of inheritance (3.3%),
arbitrary neglect and desertion (2.8%), and preventing from visiting relatives
(0.5%). Abusive sexual behavior was not identified by any of the study participants
as a form of domestic GBV. A total of 112 boys (56.0%) reported that they have
been perpetrators in domestic GBV events at least once and 118 girls (59.0%)
reported that they have been actual victims of domestic GBV. An overall 65.6%
of study participants could correctly identify the legal age of marriage as 18
years, yet only 22.0% identified earlier ages of marriage as a form of domestic
GBV. The vast majority of girls and boys reported that they would not agree to
get married before the age of 18 years (91.0 and 87.0%, respectively).
Adolescents in Upper Egypt demonstrated a less than
satisfactory knowledge about the forms of GBV. Although early girls' marriage
was not universally recognized by adolescents as a form of domestic GBV, they
demonstrated satisfactory knowledge about the legal age of marriage, as well as
a tendency to abandon the practice. Establishing a community-based awareness
program for adolescents of both sexes about GBV with a focus on early girls'
marriage is highly recommended.
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By:
- 1Community Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Beni Suef University, Beni Suef, Egypt.
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