International Journal of Public Health

, Volume 63, Issue 1, pp 13–22 | Cite as

Sexual violence as a risk factor for family planning-related outcomes among young Burundian women

  • Yajna Elouard
  • Carine Weiss
  • Adriane Martin-Hilber
  • Sonja Merten
Original Article
First Online:
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:

Abstract

Objectives

The study aimed to examine associations between experience of sexual violence and family planning-related outcomes.

Methods

A multi-stage cluster survey was conducted among a representative sample of 744 young women aged 15–24 in eight provinces in Burundi.

Results

The prevalence of young women who reported having ever been physically forced to have sexual intercourse was 26.1%. Young women who had experienced sexual violence (ever) were 2.5 times more likely not to have used any modern contraceptives in the 12 months preceding the survey. They were also 2.3 times more likely to report that their last pregnancy was unplanned. Higher odds of not being able to negotiate contraceptive use with their partners were only reported by young women having experienced sexual violence in the 12 months prior to the survey when adjusted for confounders.

Conclusions

Sexual violence was found to be significantly associated with contraceptive negotiation and use as well as unplanned pregnancy. Weak perceived ability to negotiate contraceptive use highlights gender inequalities leaving young women vulnerable to unprotected sex and thus unplanned pregnancies.

Keywords

Sexual violence Family planning-related outcomes Young women Burundi 
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Notes

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank all the young Burundians who accepted to participate in the study. They would like to thank their colleagues Carolyn Blake, Jana Gerold, Nina Ndabihore and Joëlle Schwarz for their contributions: Carolyn Blake, Nina Ndabihore and Joëlle Schwarz for the design and conception of the study; Nina Ndabihore for the training of the data collection team; Carolyn Blake, Joëlle Schwarz and Nina Ndabihore for data collection supervision, and Carolyn Blake, Jana Gerold and Joëlle Schwarz for their comments on the manuscript. They would like to thank the Burundi Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies and all the supervisors and enumerators who collected the data. This publication was made possible thanks to funding from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Grant no. 24912) for the ‘Making Sexual and Reproductive Health Work for the Next Generation’ program.

Authors contributions

Yajna Elouard participated in the conception and design, training of the data collection team, data collection supervision, interpretation of data and drafted the manuscript. Carine Weiss participated in the conception and design, training of the data collection team, analysis, interpretation of data and drafting of the manuscript. Adriane Martin-Hilber participated in the conception of the design. Sonja Merten developed the design, supervised the analysis and revised the manuscript critically. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Compliance with ethical standards

Financial competing interest

This research was part of a baseline survey for the ‘Making Sexual and Reproductive Health Work for the Next Generation’ program implemented in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda. The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs-funded program (Grant no. 24912) is led by a consortium of several partners, including Cordaid, as the lead, and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, responsible for all monitoring and evaluation activities.

Non-financial competing interest

The authors declare that they have no non-financial competing interests.

Authors’ information

Yajna Elouard is based in Burundi as the Coordinator of the program.

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Copyright information

© Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+) 2017

Authors and Affiliations

  • Yajna Elouard
    • 1
    • 3
  • Carine Weiss
    • 2
    • 3
  • Adriane Martin-Hilber
    • 1
    • 3
  • Sonja Merten
    • 2
    • 3
  1. 1.Sexual and Reproductive Health Unit, Swiss Centre for International HealthSwiss Tropical and Public Health InstituteBaselSwitzerland
  2. 2.Society, Gender and Health Unit, Epidemiology and Public HealthSwiss Tropical and Public Health InstituteBaselSwitzerland
  3. 3.University of BaselBaselSwitzerland

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