The World report on violence defines violence as, "the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against another person or a group or community that either result in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury death, psychological harm, mal-development or deprivation"[1,2].
Violence as a known serious public health problem affects people in all stages of life, from childhood to the elderly [3]. In society, one of the most visible forms of violence is young people violence, whereas they, adolescents and young adults, are the main victims of such violence [4]. It is estimated that each year, 200,000 homicides occur in this age group in the world. Nearly all of these deaths occur in low and middle-income countries and the majority of victims (83%) are males [2].
Youth violence often occurs alongside other types of violence. For instance, maltreated children are themselves at increased risk in later life of either perpetrating or becoming the victims of multiple types of violence – including suicide, sexual violence, youth violence, and intimate partner violence. The same set of factors – such as harmful levels of alcohol use, family isolation and social exclusion, high unemployment, and economic inequalities – have been shown to underlie different types of violence [5].
Violence is among the top five leading causes of death for young people aged 10–29 [6] and the elimination of violence is foreseen in the United Nations Agenda Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 [3,7]. Youth violence includes physical, psychological and sexual abuse, neglect, commercial or other exploitation of children (e.g., labor exploitation, forced marriage, forced criminality, domestic servitude, child soldiers), “resulting in actual or potential harm to the child’ health, survival, development or dignity in the context of establishing a relationship, responsibility, trust or power”[8, 9].
Victims are not the only heirs of youth violence, but also deeply harm their families, friends, and communities. A great increase in the costs of health and welfare criminal justice services decreases the value of property in areas where it occurs, disrupts a range of essential services, reduces productivity, and generally undermines the fabric of society are imposed consequences of youth violence [2].
There was limited information on the burden of violence and associated factors among this age group. Therefore, measuring the burden of this problem and determinants is important to develop strategies and policies to prevent violence and manage cases. Additionally, it will give directions for researchers to conduct further research to develop or modify the existing policies and strategies for preventing and controlling violence among this age group.
Literature review on the prevalence of youth violence
The burden of youth violence is highest in low and middle-income countries [2]. A study done in Serbia violence among youth was 13.4% [10], China 13.2% [11], and DHS in Ethiopia 27% [12]. The World Health Organization (WHO) based on data from selected twenty countries in low and middle-income regions reported that an average of 47% of boys and 26% of girls participated in physical fighting during the past 12 months. It means that nearly one in two males reported involvement in physical fighting. In this systematic review, the lowest physical fighting between twenty studied countries was for females in Myanmar (8%), whereas, the highest rates are reported for boys in Samoa (73%) [2]. A study conducted in Isfahan, Iran, having physical violence (past year) among boys and girls was 53.4% and 24.0% in middle school and 42.4% and 18.1% in high school respectively. The prevalence of physical violence was higher in middle school students than high school students [13]. In Ethiopia, nearly 16% of male college students reported physically abusing an intimate partner or non-partner [14]. Twenty-four percent of ever-married women have experienced spousal physical violence, with 17% experiencing this type of violence in the past 12 months [12].
Worldwide, around 15 million adolescent girls aged 15 to 19 have experienced forced sex in their lifetime; 9 million of these girls were victimized within the past year [15]. The reported prevalence of sexual violence among young people in dating relationships varies from 1.2%–32.9% for females and from 1%–19% among boys in North America and Europe [16]. According to demographic and health survey data for selected low and middle-income countries, the percentage of girls aged 15–19 years who have ever experienced forced sexual intercourse ranges from zero among adolescent girls in Kyrgyzstan, to 22% among girls in the same age range in Cameroon. Among girls and women aged 15-49 years, the percentage reporting forced sexual initiation ranges from 1% in Timor- Leste to 29% in Nepal [17], in Uganda, 35% [18] and EDHS report, seven percent of women age 15-49 reported that they have experienced sexual violence in the past 12 months, five percent of women had experienced sexual violence by age 18, including 2% who had experienced sexual violence by age 15 [12].
A study in Serbia showed that (in the family and on the street) 2.8% and 5.3% were victims of psychological violence, respectively [10]. A similar study conducted in Isfahan, Iran, distribution of violent behavior among studied students; Youth threatened by someone in the last 12 months among boys and girls 25% and 8% in middle school and 19.1% and 6.1% in high school, respectively [13]. The experience of any emotional violence in among ever-married women age 15-49 years was 20.2% [12].
Factors associated with youth violence
The associations of socio-demographic and other factors with violence; being raised in poverty has been found to contribute a greater likelihood of involvement in violence, and poverty both in the community and at the level of individual households has been shown to predict violence [2, 19].
A study conducted in Serbia, predictors of violence victimization were male gender, lack of close friends and urban settlements [10]. The youngest women (age 15-19), women with no children, and never-married women are less likely to have experienced violence [12]. Young men are at far greater risk than females for becoming perpetrators and victims of youth violence. About 90% of fatal violence is perpetrated by males and 83% of all youth homicide victims are males. Female involvement in youth violence resulting in non-fatal physical injures remains inadequately studied in many countries. In the USA, females represent 20% of all arrests for violent crime among those aged 10–29 years [20].
Youth violence perpetration and victimization are related to low academic achievement. Those who are involved in youth violence show lower educational performance and are more at risk of school dropout or truancy [21]. At the individual level, young people who start drinking early and drink frequently are at increased risk of perpetrating or being a victim of youth violence. At community and society levels, crowded and poorly managed drinking venues contribute to increased aggression among drinkers [22]. Several studies confirm that violent incidents often occur in situations of alcohol intoxication [23, 24].
DHS in Ethiopia, all forms of spousal violence are higher among divorced/separated/widowed women, women with no education with the level of husbands/partners alcohol consumption. Experiences of physical violence by urban-rural residence, rural women are only somewhat more likely than urban women to have experienced physical violence [12].
There are no or limited studies conducted to assess violence against young people and its determinants in the study area as well as in Ethiopia. Even some studies conducted previously focused only on the reproductive health problems of young people; yet, which does not address violence against young people in both sex groups. Hence, the present study was designed to determine the prevalence of violence and related factors among youth in Northwest Ethiopia. Thus, the findings of this study contribute to public health researchers and policymakers to promote further research and develop or modify strategies designed to reduce violence.