Abstract

Gender-based violence is a serious public health problem. The prevalence of sexual violence against female students in Ethiopia has not been systematized, according to many dispersed studies. Therefore, the purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis estimate cumulative prevalence of sexual violence and associated factors among high school female students, in Ethiopia. A systematic review and meta-analysis conducted. Different primary articles that assessed violence against high school female students in Ethiopia extracted by using Microsoft excel and exported to STATA version 11 for further analysis. Random-effect model meta-analysis was used to estimate the pooled prevalence and effect of each study with a 95% confidence interval. Funnel plots analysis and egger test regression were conducted to detect the presence of publication bias. A sensitivity test and sub-group analysis were conducted.  A total of studies with 5,441 participants were included. Estimated pooled prevalence of violence against high school female students in Ethiopia was 45.25, with a 95% CI (34.59-55.91). Female students who had a history of sexual intercourse were about 7 (OR=7.23; 95% CI: 1.03-51.02) times more likely to have gender-based violence when compared with females who had no sexual intercourse history. In our systematic review and meta-analysis, magnitude of violence against female students is high in Ethiopia. It is recommended for high school directors, the regional education office, and the ministry of education to give special attention and work on female students to minimize gender-based violence.

Key words: Gender-based violence, violence, female students, sexual violence.