Abstract:
Background: Violence against women and children is globally recognized as a social and human rights concern. In
Tanzania, sexual violence towards women and children is a public health problem. The aim of this study was to
determine community knowledge of and attitudes towards rape and child sexual abuse, and assess associations
between knowledge and attitudes and socio-demographic characteristics.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was undertaken between May and June 2012. The study was conducted in the
Kilombero and Ulanga rural districts in the Morogoro Region of Tanzania. Men and women aged 18–49 years were
eligible for the study. Through a three-stage cluster sampling strategy, a household survey was conducted using a
structured questionnaire. The questionnaire included socio-demographic characteristics, attitudes about gender
roles and violence, and knowledge on health consequences of rape. Data were analyzed using the Statistical
Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software, version 21. Main outcome measures were knowledge of and attitudes
towards sexual violence. Multivariate analyses were used to assess associations between socio-demographic
characteristics and knowledge of and attitudes towards sexual violence.
Results: A total of 1,568 participants were interviewed. The majority (58.4%) of participants were women. Most
(58.3%) of the women respondents had poor knowledge on sexual violence and 63.8% had accepting attitudes
towards sexual violence. Those who were married were significantly more likely to have good knowledge on
sexual violence compared to the divorced/separated group (AOR = 1.6 (95% CI: 1.1-2.2)) but less likely to have
non-accepting attitudes towards sexual violence compared to the single group (AOR = 1.8 (95%CI: 1.4-2.3)). Sex of
respondents, age, marital status and level of education were associated with knowledge and attitudes towards
sexual violence.
Conclusions: Our study showed that these rural communities have poor knowledge on sexual violence and
have accepting attitudes towards sexual violence. Increasing age and higher education were associated with
better knowledge and less accepting attitudes towards sexual violence. The findings have potentially important
implications for interventions aimed at preventing violence. The results highlight the challenges associated with
changing attitudes towards sexual violence, particularly as the highest levels of support for such violence were
found among women.
