Abstract:
Background; Child violence has been a growing problem around the world for decades. It is estimated that over one billion children are exposed to physical, psychological or sexual abuse each year with an estimated one in four children experiencing physical, sexual, or emotional abuse before the age of 18.The extent of child abuse that leads to HIV/STI infection is substantial and widespread, affecting millions of children worldwide through various forms of child abuse and the impacts of such violence can be serious and long-lasting, affecting a child's health, including STIs/HIV infection. This study aims to investigate the prevalence of HIV/STIs infection and associated factors among children victims of violence attending Kacyiru IOSC.
Method: Using a retrospective cross-sectional study involving secondary analysis of data collected among children who experienced violence before the age of 18. Data were collected from records into Excel sheet and a total of 384 participants were selected, frequency and median were used to describe characteristics of participants. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression modelling were performed where association between socio-demographic and HIV or STIs were estimated using Chi-square test. The p< 0.05 was significant and the odds ratios (OR) were measured at 95% Confidence Interval (CI) were analyzed with STATA 17.0 version.
Results: A total of 384 participants were considered, included 83.3 % of females and 16.7%. male, the median 12 age was between 0 and 17years. prevalence of STIs among children violence victims was 21.8%, HIV prevalence was 0.52% and among 2 HIV positive one participant experienced sexual violence only as another one experienced both physical and sexual violence. The risk of having STIs was higher in female than male (AOR:2.72; 95% CI [1.01 – 7.36]); it was higher in those who live in educational level compared to others (AOR:1.6; 95% C I [0.65 – 4.08]; it was higher in persons who experienced sexual violence than those who experienced physical violence (AOR: 13.55 ;95% CI [1.79 – 102.57], also higher in adult adolescent (AOR: 2.45 ;95% CI [0.84 – 7.20]), Conclusion: A significant number of children aged 0-17 years were reported to have experienced physical, sexual, or both types of violence. This study also discovered a low incidence of HIV and a high prevalence of STIs among children who had suffered sexual violence, and it demonstrated that the factors associated with STIs were: being female, living in Gasabo, and having experienced sexual violence. These findings highlight the need of reinforcing intervention, preventing and controlling STIs in children
