Sexual abuse among female high school students in Istanbul, Turkey

The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of sexual abuse in female adolescents in Istanbul, Turkey from data collected as part of a school-based population study on health and health behaviors.

A stratified cluster sampling procedure was used for this cross-sectional study. The study sample included 1,955 randomly selected 9th through 11th grade female students attending 26 randomly-selected high schools in Istanbul. A self-report questionnaire was administered anonymously in the classroom. Information on sexual abuse history was collected through the questions investigating "touching" and "intercourse."

Of 1,955 female students, 1,871 (95.7%) provided answers to the questions addressing unwanted sexual experience. Of these, 250 (13.4%) reported sexually abusive experiences. Two hundred and thirteen (11.3%) students reported that someone touched their private parts in a way they did not like; 91 (4.9%) reported they were forced to have sexual intercourse; 54 (3.0%) reported both types of sexual abuse. Incest was reported by 1.8% of the subjects. Ninety-three percent of the perpetrators were reported to be male.

This is the first reported school-based study to determine the prevalence of sexual abuse in Turkey. The results show that at least 13.4% of female high school students disclosed having experienced sexual abuse during childhood.