Correlates of sexual violence among adolescent females in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Objective: To determine the frequency, experiences and correlates of sexual violence among female adolescents in Riyadh city, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2 schools in Riyadh city for adolescent females starting from January 2008 for 3 months. Five classes with 25 students in each were randomly selected from intermediate and secondary grade of each school. Four hundred and nineteen students were included. A self-answering questionnaire was distributed and collected after 15 minutes by 3 research assistants.

Results: Forty-two adolescent students (10%) were exposed to sexual violence. Only 31% of the students were taught how to react to sexual violence. Students whose order was > or = 5th among siblings and who had unsupportive parents in discussing sexual issues were more exposed to sexual violence (chi2=4.02, p=0.044, chi2=4.24, p=0.039).

Conclusion: Being > or = 5th in order among siblings and having unsupportive parents in discussing sexual issues were correlates for exposure to sexual violence.