Prevalence and associated factors of gender-based violence for female: Evidence from school students in Nepal- a cross sectional study

Background Gender-based violence (GBV) is a major global public health challenge in 21 st century that remains a serious impact on women’s health and well-being. Therefore, this study aimed to access the prevalence and factors associated with GBV among secondary school female students in Sarlahi district of Nepal. Methods Using a cross-sectional study, we collected data from 225 secondary school female students in Sarlahi district of Nepal. Data was collected by using a semi-structured, self-administered questionnaire. Probability proportionate and simple random sampling techniques were used for sampling. The association were explored by using chi-square test and binary logistic regression where a p value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results The prevalence of GBV among the students during their lifetime was 45.33% followed by physical (16.89%), sexual (30.22%) and psychological (39.56%) violence respectively. The prevalence of physical violence from family members was 97.36%, followed by emotional violence (41.57%). Further, the prevalence of sexual violence from the non-family members was 91.17%. Type of family had a significant association with lifetime experience of GBV (p=0.003). Gender based discrimination in the family had a significant association with lifetime (p=0.001) as well as last 12 months (p=0.001) GBV experience. Experience of witnessing physical violence as a child was within last 12 months was associated with GBV (p=0.03). Conclusion GBV has been prevalent among the high school students, with limited level of awareness in that issue. This warrants the urgent need to establish preventive and responsive control measure within schools and communities to address the GBV effectively.