Addressing gender and pandemic-driven disparities in experiences of sexual and intimate partner violence among South African adolescents: leaving no one behind

Thesis

Adolescence is a period of heightened risk of sexual and intimate partner violence, especially among females. The HIV epidemic and the COVID-19 pandemic may worsen these risks, but data quantifying their effects are limited. Violence prevention requires coordinated, multisectoral strategies; however, evidence on how such strategies may reduce sexual violence is more limited than evidence on emotional and physical violence. Grounded in intersectional feminist theory, my doctoral research addressed two interconnected aims using data from two adolescent cohort studies conducted in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa between 2014 and 2022:
• How adolescents’ social identities (sex, HIV status, motherhood) and the COVID19 pandemic affect their experiences of sexual and intimate partner violence (Chapter IV, Chapter V and Chapter VI)?; and
• How relational and structural interventions may reduce risk (Chapter VI)?

The findings show that lifetime experiences of contact and transactional sexual violence were more common among adolescent females than males, whereas experiences of non-contact sexual violence were comparable between the sexes. Intersectional analysis showed that the lifetime prevalence of sexual violence was highest among older females and adolescents who had recently acquired HIV. Among older males, the lifetime prevalence was lower than that among older adolescents overall. Among adolescent mothers, the adjusted predicted probability of ever experiencing intimate partner violence following the onset of COVID-19 did not differ by HIV status. However, in both periods, levels of intimate partner violence were higher among adolescent mothers living with HIV than among those without HIV. 

These doctoral findings emphasise the need for age- and sex-responsive approaches to preventing sexual violence. Analyses of the indirect effects of government-issued cash transfers revealed two indirect pathways among females: an increased likelihood of affording necessities and attending school. Among males, receipt of social grants was positively associated with schooling; however, schooling was not associated with lower odds of past-year sexual violence. Parental support, although directly associated with lower odds of past-year sexual violence for both sexes, did not mediate the cashtransfer pathways. 

Findings highlight the need for equity-driven programming that integrates social protection, school retention, and parenting support to prevent adolescent violence, especially among overlooked groups like adolescent males and adolescent mothers.

Authors: Langwenya, NA

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-7jroxgan2
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: social protection; South Africa; sexual violence; adolescents male and females; COVID-19
• Subjects: Social Intervntion