AUTHOR=Quarshie Emmanuel Nii-Boye 

TITLE=Self-Harm Among School-Going Adolescent Survivors of Sexual Violence Victimisation: A Cross-Sectional Study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Sociology

VOLUME=Volume 6 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sociology/articles/10.3389/fsoc.2021.605865

DOI=10.3389/fsoc.2021.605865

ISSN=2297-7775

ABSTRACT=Background: A growing body of evidence from high-income contexts suggests a strong association between sexual violence victimisation and self-harm and eventual suicide. However, both sexual violence and self-harm among adolescents are still less researched in sub-Saharan African countries, including Ghana.
Objectives: To estimate the 12-month prevalence of self-harm, and to describe the associated factors and reported reasons for self-harm among school-going adolescent survivors of sexual violence victimisation during the previous 12 months in urban Ghana.
Methods:  Analytic data came from a regional-based representative cross-sectional survey including in-school youth (N = 1723) conducted in 2017 within the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. Of these, 297 (17.2%) self-reported sexual violence victimisation in the previous 12 months; this proportion of the participants (n = 297) was the focus of the current study. Items measuring sexual violence victimisation, self-harm, and correlates were adopted from the 2012 Ghana WHO–Global School-based Student Health Survey and the Child & Adolescent Self-harm in Europe Study. Data analysis involved multivariable logistic regression models.
Results: The estimate of self-harm ideation during the previous 12 months was 45·8% (95% CI: 40 – 52), whereas the estimate of self-harm behaviour was 38·7% (95% CI: 33 – 44). About two in five of the participants who reported self-harm wanted to die by their last episode of the behaviour. While bullying victimisation was associated with increased odds of self-harm ideation (aOR=1·97, 95% CI 1·17,  3·31, p = ·010) and behaviour (aOR=2·76, 95% CI 1·59,  4·80, p < ·001), weekly alcohol use (aOR=2·56, 95% CI 1·32,  4·93, p = ·005), conflict with parents (aOR=2·30, 95% CI 1·28,  4·12, p = ·005), and physical abuse victimisation (aOR=1·80, 95% CI 1·03,  3·15, p = ·037) showed strong associations with increased odds of self-harm behaviour in the past 12 months.
Conclusions: The evidence underscores the need for both universal and targeted multi-level intervention and prevention programmes to mitigate the offence of sexual violence and reduce the chances of self-harm among adolescent survivors of sexual violence in urban Ghana.