Adolescent Girls’ Safety In and Out of School: Evidence on Physical and Sexual Violence from across Sub-Saharan Africa

David Evans, Susannah Hares, Peter Holland and Amina Acosta
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Susannah Hares: Center for Global Development
Peter Holland: World Bank
Amina Acosta: Center for Global Development

No 597, Working Papers from Center for Global Development

Abstract: This study characterizes rates of physical and sexual violence against adolescent girls and compares rates of violence against girls who are enrolled versus unenrolled in school, to contribute to an understanding of the relative risks associated with school attendance. We look at rates of violence across countries that together represent 80 percent of sub-Saharan Africa’s girls aged 15-19. The analysis shows high rates of violence overall: 28.8 percent report having experienced physical or sexual violence. However, in none of the twenty countries do adolescent girls enrolled in school report a statistically significantly higher likelihood of having been sexually assaulted than girls not enrolled in schools. Another source of data sees significantly higher rates in just one country. This pattern of results is robust to the inclusion of a range of control variables, and to analysis using different sub-groups. The evidence on physical violence is more mixed. Girls face significant rates of physical and sexual violence whether they are enrolled in school or not. These findings underline the importance of confronting violence against girls both in school and in the community, with tailored programs appropriate to each setting.

Keywords: gender-based violence; education; girls’ education (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 51 pages
Date: 2021-12-06, Revised 2022-11-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cgd:wpaper:597

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