Childhood violence and prevalence of early pregnancies in Uganda

Abstract

Teenage pregnancy is both a health and economic issue that requires immediate attention because it threatens the economy’s well-being. The major objective of the study was to explore the relationship between childhood violence and teenage pregnancy in Uganda. Specifically, the study sought to empirically examine the relationship between exposure to sexual, emotional and physical violence and teenage pregnancy and analyse the influence of socio demographic factors on teenage pregnancy in Uganda. The study utilized the 2018 Uganda National household survey dataset of Violence against children conducted by the Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development. The study was based on Social Ecological theory to examine the relationship between childhood exposure to violence and early pregnancy to girls below 18 years. Three logit regression models were estimated i.e. Model I, II and III focusing on forms of violence, occurrence of two forms of violence and overlap of sexual, physical and emotional forms of violence at once respectively. The results from the study are consistent with a growing body of literature showing that exposure to emotional, physical and sexual violence leads to early pregnancy in girls below 18 years. Age, education, religion, and household characteristics were found to influence the incidence of teenage pregnancy. Teen girls from small sized households were less likely to get pregnant while still children compared to girls from big sized households. Education of teenage girls and affiliations to religion lessen the exposure of early pregnancies. The study recommends extreme penalties for sexual and emotional violence against adolescent girls to reduce teenage pregnancies. The study also suggests the need of sensitizing parents about the effect of violence on children especially as a cause to early pregnancy. It suggests that in addition to strategies promoted to reduce early pregnancy like use of family planning methods, policies should follow a range of household-level contexts: improving social economic status of households and sensitizing the need to stop violence against girls and women. Key Words: Early pregnancy, violence.