AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE EFFECTS OF
SEXUAL VIOLENCE ON THE HEALTH OF
WOMEN IN GWERU URBAN

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE EFFECTS OF
SEXUAL VIOLENCE ON THE HEALTH OF
WOMEN IN GWERU URBAN

PANGANAI TSITSI

Sexual violence could be a menace to the health of women, so this study sought to
investigate the effects of sexual violence on the health of women. The research
hypothesis was that there is no relationship between sexual violence and the
reproductive, psychological and physical health problems. The objectives were to
expose the types of sexual violence and how women react to it in addition to
establishing the prevalence of the psychological, physical and reproductive health
(including STI and HIV/AIDS) problems resulting from sexual violence. A mixed
methodology with a pragmatic approach was used to carry out the research. The
research design was the casual comparative method where two groups that is the
sample and control groups were selected to allow comparing of the results. The
purposive sampling method was used at Msasa Project and Gweru hospital to obtain
the sample group of 30 women who were sexually violated. The control group of 30
women who were not sexually violated was obtained by convenient sampling at Gweru
Hospital MCH department. The data was obtained by triangulating interviews, focus
groups and documentary analysis and analysed by descriptive statistics as well as using
the SPSS for ANOVA, t-test and chi square. The research revealed that sexual violence
does affect the health of women reproductively, psychologically and physically. The
prevalence of STI and HIV related to sexual violence was 0.33 and 0.37 respectively.
However the women were reluctant to report sexual violence because of their culture
which makes it difficult to define sexual violence. The researcher suggests that men be
educated on the rights of women and the effects of sexual violence and the
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organisations dealing with women health issues should involve men. The women who
report sexual violence should also be assessed for psychological problems as it was
found to be the most common health problem associated with sexual violence. Abortion
should be made accessible to the victims of sexual violence so that they are not
burdened by an unwanted child

ZIMBABWE

2013