Sexual Coercion at sexual debut and associated factors among Young Females in rural areas of Boset District, Eastern Ethiopia: A Mixed Method Study

Background The sexual behavior and experience of young people in developing countries have considerable attention. Despite growing recognition of the problem, relatively little is known about the issue of coercive sex in rural settings in developing countries including Ethiopia. Objectives Assess the prevalence and associated factors of sexual coercion at sexual debut among young females in rural areas of Boset district, Oromia Region, Eastern Ethiopia. Methods Cross-sectional community based study was conducted using both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods. A sample of 632 young females aged 10–24 years was taken from six rural Kebeles by systematic random sampling procedure for quantitative and data were collected using a pre-tested structured questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS version 23. Principally Binary Logistic regression model was fitted. Moreover, eight focus group discussions targeting different groups were held and analyzed thematically. Results The prevalence of sexual coercion at sexual debut was 36.5% among sexually active respondents. Married young female (COR, 0.39; 95%CI: 0.21,0.71), living alone (away from their parents (AOR, 5.07; 95%CI: 1.07,24.01), age (AOR, 0.19; 95%CI: 0. 064, 0.544), alcohol consumption (AOR, 2.44; 95%CI: 1.17, 5.08) and Khat chewing (AOR, 8.30; 95%CI: 1.892, 36.378) were factors predicting the likelihood of having sexual coercion at sexual debut. Conclusion Sexual coercion at sexual debut is a major public health problem among young females in the study community. The emerging program interventions need to take this problem into consideration.