Correlates of disclosure of sexual violence among Kenyan youth

Sexual violence (SV) against children is a global health and human rights issue that can have short and long-term consequences for health and wellbeing. Disclosing SV increases the likelihood that children can access health and protective services and receive psychosocial support. Research in high-income countries has found that child SV survivors are more likely to disclose when they are girls/women, experience fewer SV events, and experience SV perpetrated by a stranger. No studies have examined correlates of SV disclosure in Kenya.

The objective of this research was to assess the correlates of disclosing SV among Kenyan youth ages 13-24 who reported an SV experience before age 18.

In 2010, the Kenya Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Development, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Division of Violence Prevention, the UNICEF Kenya Country Office, and the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) conducted a national survey of violence against children. These data were used to conduct weighted logistic regression analyses to determine which factors were correlated with reporting SV disclosure.

Among the 27.8% of girls/women and 14.5% of boys/men who reported SV before age 18, 44.6% of girls/women and 28.2% of boys/men reported to have disclosed the experience. In weighted logistic regression analysis, the odds of disclosure were lower among survivors who were boys/men and among survivors who reported more SV events, and higher when any perpetrator was a family member.

More context-specific research on SV disclosure among young people is needed globally.