In a sample of 970 girls aged 13 to 19 who participated in the online anonymous survey, every fifth reported experiencing some form of sexual violence, the association “Moms are the law” announced today on the occasion of marking the World Children’s Day.
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A survey on “Recognize Violence, Say No” was conducted during the second half of June with the aim of examining the awareness of girls aged 13 to 19 about sexual violence, and the survey was conducted through a Google questionnaire and is anonymous, and was answered by 970 respondent.
The research was conducted by Mama su zakon and Putevi edukacije, and a comparative analysis of the data, as it is stated, concluded that sexual violence against girls and young girls increases drastically at the age of 15.
At the age of 15-18, every third surveyed girl reported that she had experienced sexual violence, while among women aged 19, the frequency of experienced sexual violence increased to a percentage of 54.17 percent, according to the association “Moms are the law”.
According to the research data, three times more respondents from urban areas reported experiencing some form of sexual violence compared to respondents from rural areas, regardless of age.
Twice as many city respondents personally know a woman or girl who has experienced some form of sexual violence, the statement said, and a cross-analysis of the data concluded that sexual violence was much more prevalent in urban areas than in rural areas. It is also noted that similar data were obtained by the OSCE survey from 2019.
When respondents were asked to identify all behaviors that they would label as sexual violence, respondents were much more likely to choose responses that involved inappropriate and unwanted physical contact than responses that involved verbal violence.
According to the information available to girls, 89.3 percent of them believe that sexual violence against women and girls occurs daily or often, the statement said.
According to 69.6 percent of respondents, sexual violence occurs in contact with strangers, while according to a survey published by the OSCE in 2019, data show that most women who have survived sexual violence identify the perpetrators as someone they know.
Of the total number of respondents who reported some form of violence, 207 of them, by analyzing individual responses, 69.56% of them stated that they had experienced sexual harassment, 63.77% that they had experienced psychological / physical violence by partners or other persons, 52 , 66% of respondents said they were stalked, 15.45% said they had experienced sexual violence by a partner or other person.
Of all the respondents who stated that they had experienced some form of violence, the largest percentage (69.56%) were those who had experienced sexual harassment. Every seventh respondent who experienced violence stated that it was sexual violence by a partner or another person, it is stated in the announcement.
Comparing the data from this research and the data obtained from large national and global researches, we come to the conclusion that young girls from the age of 15 experience violence much more often, with a special emphasis on violence that has a sexual connotation.
In the open-ended answer option, respondents provided a multitude of answers that provide additional information related to the existence of various forms of violent behavior in the online environment, which is largely expected, given the large presence of this age group on social networks and other platforms. they can be the target of bullies.
Half of the respondents who stated that they had experienced some form of sexual violence did not seek help.
Girls who experienced some form of sexual violence most often turned for help to members of their immediate or extended family (11.24%), then friends (8.4%), school (4.12%), while the percentage of those who addressed to the competent official institutions below 3%.
Two out of five respondents said they were not entirely sure who to turn to or did not know who to turn to for help in cases where they would be victims of any form of violence, the survey shows.
According to the attitudes marked by the respondents, three out of five respondents believe that in most cases sexual violence is committed by an unknown person, while two out of five respondents believe that a guy cannot rape his girlfriend.
A significant number of respondents (12.8%) stated that women allow intimate partner violence to happen to them and, if they really want to, can leave their violent partners, while 4.6% of them believe that the victim often causes violence on her own. The choice of these attitudes indicates that negative stereotypes about the role of women in partnerships are also present among young girls, the statement said.
According to the respondents (90.82%), there is a great need to discuss these topics in school, which indicates the need for greater presence of education on sexual violence through prevention workshops for young women and girls aimed at education, empowerment and information about violence prevention.
Having these conclusions in mind, the associations announce that they will address the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, and then the Ministry of Family Care and Demography, as well as the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue with a proposal to organize working meetings. which would discuss the obtained results and proposals in order to be able to respond to the obvious existing needs, it is stated in the announcement.
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