Study Setting
The study was carried out in Cross River and Akwa Ibom States of Nigeria The study was done in the state capital of the two states i.e., Calabar for Cross River and Uyo, for Akwa Ibom State. Officially, Calabar is partitioned into Calabar Municipal and Calabar South Local Government Areas. Calabar Municipality local government constitutes of 11 Electoral wards while Calabar south has 12 electoral wards. The total population of Calabar as of census 2006 was 371,0227. Uyo is the capital of Akwa Ibom State and has 11 electoral wards with a population of 1,135,7757
Study Design
The study was a community-based cross sectional descriptive study with both qualitative and quantitative approach.The study population comprised young adults (males and females) aged between 15-39 years in Cross River and Akwa Ibom States. This included selected young adults in the 21 electoral wards (10 in Uyo, 11 in Calabar Municipality LGA) who gave their consent to partake in the study.
The sample size for the study was determined using Bluman's formula8.
Study Description
This Qualitative part of the study employed purposive sampling to conduct 2 Focus Group Discussions involving 10 participants in each of the study locations (FGDs) and conducted 12 Key Informant Interview comprising the 2 Village heads (or their representatives), 2 Women leaders, 2 youth leaders, 2 Medical Superintendents of the secondary healthcare institutions and 2 Community Health Extension workers (CHEW) in charge of the Primary health care centers in the selected communities. These were chosen based on the fact that they are believed to be resident or work in the community as well as holding leadership roles and hence have knowledge of GBV and occurrences among young people dwelling in the selected communities. Participation was be voluntary with each respondent giving informed verbal consent prior to the study.
Pre-testing of the instruments
The questionnaire was pre-tested with 10% of sample size in Akpabuyo Local Government Area, a close Local Government to Calabar Metropolis, Cross River State. This was done to ensure that the instruments for data collection are reliable and measures what they are designed for. A multi-staged sampling technique was used to select 42 young adults for the pretest. This was done to ensure reliability of the instrument. The Instrument was also validated by the Gender Focal Person/ Program officer for Heartland Alliance International, a USAID Funded organization that implements GBV services for Key populations. Findings and feedback from the pretest was used to restructure the self -administered questionnaire.
Methods of data collection:
Questionnaire
A total number of 426 copies of the questionnaire were administered to respondents by the principal researcher and three (3) field assistants. The field assistants were trained by the principal researcher on public relations, cultural sensitivity, questionnaire dissemination and data collection to ensure completion, consistency and accuracy.
Focus Group Discussion (FGD)
This was used to obtain in-depth understanding of the topic of study. The guides were administered to purposively selected individuals in the study area who are concerned or have vast knowledge of the subject of discussion. The principal researcher was the facilitator of the FGD, while research assistants were assigned the role or note-taker and observer respectively. FGD was conducted in a serene environment to avoid distraction, safe, accessible and convenient place for the respondents. FGD was recorded using tape recorder and all process ensured confidentially.
Key Informant Interview Guide
The guide was used to administer questions to the purposively selected individuals in the study area who are concerned or have vast knowledge of the subject of discussion. The principal researcher was the facilitator of the KII, while research assistants were assigned the role of note-taker and observer respectively. Twelve (12) sessions of KIIs were conducted in the two State capitals. Adequate and appropriate, information of the research and research team, voluntary participation, confidentiality and anonymity were provided to the respondents and informed consent sought before the interview.
Methods of data analysis:
The data from the questionnaire were analyzed with the use of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences software (SPSS) version 22. Likert scale of 0-4 were used to score response to the questions as follows; "undecided" was 0, "strongly agree" was 4, "agreed" was 3, "disagree" was 2 and "strongly disagreed “was 1. For questions that have Yes and No options, scores were ranged from0-3; where "No response" was 0, "I don't' know" was 1, "No" was 2 and "Yes" was 3. For negatively stated questions in the questionnaire, reverse scoring will be used. Simple descriptive statistics which includes mean, median and mode, standard deviations and frequencies were used for all continuous variables. For instance, a total knowledge, score was calculated for each respondent. The mean value for the continuous variables was used to determine cut off point points to determine levels. For instance, all respondents with knowledge values below the mean score were considered to have low knowledge levels, those with mean scores were considered to have moderate knowledge levels and those with scores above the mean were considered to have high knowledge levels. Chi-squared analysis was used to test the hypothesis.
Respondent’s knowledge of gender-based violence was calculated by assigning scores to each response in the related sections of the questionnaires. Scores were summed up to get a total score for each individual. Scores that ranged between 0-6 represented poor knowledge, scores within the range of 7-12 represented moderate knowledge while scores that ranged between13-18 represented good knowledge respectively. The minimum recorded score was 0 and the maximum score was 18 out of a possible total of 18 points.
Qualitative data from the focus group discussions and key informant interview collected from the field were transcribed verbatim. The data were coded and analyzed manually to derive themes associated with factors influencing gender-based violence among young people in Cross River and Akwa Ibom States Nigeria.