Gender-Based Violence against Adolescent and Young Adult Women in Low and Middle Income Countries

Michele Decker, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Robert Blum, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

We examine the prevalence of gender-based violence among adolescent and young adult women in low and middle income countries. Data from the Demographic and Health Surveys were harnessed; we provide lifetime and past-year estimates of physical and sexual intimate partner violence, and forced sexual debut, by age group within nation, and summarize results via meta-analysis. Findings demonstrate a significant burden of gender-based violence among youth in most settings, with over 1 in 4 young married women affected by partner violence, and 1 in 5 sexually experienced adolescents reporting forced first sex. In some settings youth was found to confer risk for abuse; in other settings youth were relatively protected from violence as compared with their older counterparts (ages 25-34).