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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Reprod. Health
Sec. Adolescent Reproductive Health and Well-being
Volume 6 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/frph.2024.1437225
This article is part of the Research Topic Intersection of Adolescent Sexual, Reproductive, and Mental Health in Sub-Saharan Africa View all 10 articles

Prevalence and Associated Factors of Non-Consensual Sexual Acts among Adolescents in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Provisionally accepted
YODE MIANGOTAR YODE MIANGOTAR 1*Felly EKOFO Felly EKOFO 2Blaise MUDEKEREZA MIHIGO Blaise MUDEKEREZA MIHIGO 2
  • 1 University of N'Djamena, N'Djamena, Chad
  • 2 Other, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    During adolescence, due to lack of experience, individuals may engage in or tolerate certain nonconsensual acts under coercion. There are significant associations between forced sexual intercourse and a range of negative effects on reproductive health, as well as psychological and emotional health. Studies on non-consensual sexual acts among adolescents are rare in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This study is one of the first to focus on urban adolescents, aiming to assess the prevalence of non-consensual sexual acts and to identify associated factors.Data for this study were obtained from the baseline survey of the project "Reducing the Vulnerability of Adolescents and Young Girls to Violence and HIV/AIDS Infection," conducted in 2018 in the provinces of Kinshasa and Kasaï Oriental among adolescents aged 10-24 years. A total of 2,123 adolescents were surveyed (46.8% in Kinshasa and 53.2% in Kasaï Oriental).A structured survey questionnaire was developed in French to collect data. This questionnaire was pre-tested and corrected before use. Non-consensual sexual acts were assessed using three variables: i) Have you ever experienced non-consensual touching, ii) Have you ever experienced an attempted forced sexual intercourse, and iii) Have you ever been physically forced, injured, or threatened to have sexual intercourse. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted on these three variables separately.Among all adolescents surveyed, 11.5% reported having experienced non-consensual touching, 15.3% reported having experienced an attempted forced sexual intercourse, and 5.8% reported having been physically forced, injured, or threatened to have sexual intercourse. Among the 575 sexually active adolescents, these proportions were 43.4%, 57.4% and 22.0%, respectively. Prevalences were higher among girls and in the province of Kinshasa. Factors associated with non-

    Keywords: Sexuality, Non-Consensual Sexual, Forced Sexual, adolescents, Democratic Republic of Congo

    Received: 23 May 2024; Accepted: 18 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 MIANGOTAR, EKOFO and MIHIGO. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: YODE MIANGOTAR, University of N'Djamena, N'Djamena, Chad

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