Table 14.
Reported Main Reason for not Seeking Help Among Children Aged 13–17 Years Who Ever Experienced Physical and/or Sexual Violence by Country
| Cambodia | Kenya | Malawi | Nigeria | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Physical violence | Sexual violence | Physical violence | Sexual violence | Physical violence | Sexual violence | Physical violence | Sexual violence | |
| % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | |
| Lack of awareness | 7.65 | 2.13 | na | na | na | na | na | na |
| Lack of access | 0.36 | na | 5.69 | 0.00 | na | na | na | na |
| Afraid of repercussions | 5.69 | 8.51 | 26.83 | 11.11 | 5.04 | 10.20 | 10.00 | 10.00 |
| Shame and stigma | 11.74 | 6.38 | 4.07 | 19.44 | 0.72 | 10.20 | 1.11 | 6.00 |
| Self-blame | 55.69 | 0.00 | na | na | 17.99 | 6.12 | 14.44 | 2.00 |
| Financial constraints | 0.00 | na | 0.00 | 2.78 | 1.44 | 2.04 | 1.11 | 4.00 |
| Lack of social support | 2.31 | 2.13 | 1.63 | 2.78 | 2.88 | 0.00 | 7.78 | 0.00 |
| Apathy | 8.54 | 55.32 | 37.40 | 41.67 | 34.53 | 38.78 | 38.89 | 50.00 |
| Perceived helplessness | 3.91 | na | na | na | na | na | na | na |
| Did not need or want services | 1.25 | 14.89 | 13.01 | 11.11 | 12.95 | 14.29 | 21.67 | 24.00 |
| Other | 2.85 | 10.64 | 11.38 | 11.11 | 24.46 | 18.37 | 5.00 | 4.00 |
| N | 562 | 47 | 123 | 36 | 139 | 49 | 180 | 50 |
Abbreviations: CI Confidence Interval; na not asked; N Number of observations
Notes: aEstimates are %
bData comes from a nationally representative sample of children aged 13–17 years from Violence Against Children Surveys. Samples from male and female respondents are combined due to low overall help seeking rates within subsamples. These questions were asked only for those who had ever experienced physical or sexual violence.
cQuestions were categorized as follows: lack of awareness (did not know where to go); lack of access (too far to services); afraid of repercussions (afraid of causing more violence or getting in trouble, did not want abuser to get in trouble, perpetrator threatened me, was or felt threatened); shame and stigma (afraid of being mocked, embarrassed for self or family, felt ashamed); financial constraints (could not afford services, could not afford transport); lack of social support (afraid of being abandoned, dependent on perpetrator, no one to help me); apathy (did not think it was a problem); perceived helplessness (felt it was useless); did not need or want services; and other reasons
dIn Kenya, respondents could provide multiple reasons