Perception and experiences of sexual harassment among female students in colleges of education: a descriptive cross-sectional study, Ghana (original) (raw)
Journal of Global Health Science
Background: The challenges associated with sexual harassment in tertiary institutions are not a new phenomenon. This study assessed the perception and experiences of sexual harassment among female students at a college of education in the Ashanti Region. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional design involved all female level 200 and 300 students during the 2021-2022 academic year. The instrument used to collect data was a self-constructed pretested questionnaire uploaded in Google forms. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and a χ 2 test of associations, and a P-value of 0.05 was accepted as a statistically significant level. Results: Students (25.3%) showed they had been sexually harassed since admission to the school. There was a significant association between age (χ 2 =37.824, P-value=0.06) and religion (χ 2 =9.899, P-value=0.042) with an employee making unwelcome sexual comments to female students. Also, it was significant that year of school (χ 2 =5.860, P-value=0.05) and history of sexual harassment (χ 2 =14.948, P-value=0.001) were associated with a female student reporting they received continued unwelcomed sexual advances from an employee of the college. The factors that were associated with a female college student physically sexually harassed by an employee of the college included a year in school (χ 2 =5.207, P-value=0.074), history of sexual harassment (χ 2 =13.161, P-value=0.001), sexually harassed since admission (χ 2 =27.025, P-value=0.000), and having adequate knowledge (χ 2 =28.437, P-value=0.000). Conclusion: There is a need to identify and implement precise interventions that promote proper sexual behavior in educational institutions by the ministry of education and school authorities. Also, School authorities must develop a robust institutional policy on sexual harassment and encourage the provision of mental health care services to people who have been victims or perpetrators of sexual harassment.
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