Adolescent Exposure to Domestic Violence in a South African City: Implications for Prevention and Intervention

A cross-sectional survey conducted with adolescents in their first year of high school in Johannesburg (a South African City) indicates that adolescents have witnessed up to 2.8 incidents of domestic violence. Adolescents were more likely to witness physical and sexual violence among family members than adult intimate partners. However, they reported higher levels of emotional abuse among adult intimate partners than among family members. In addition, the results suggest differential exposure by gender, with boys being more likely than girls to have reported witnessing sexual domestic violence. Girls were however more likely than boys to report witnessing physical and emotional domestic violence. The impact of the high levels of violence that adolescents are exposed to needs to be addressed, since this could result in the perpetuation of domestic violence across generations. Critically, efforts need to be made to prevent domestic violence, to increase the safety of children in the home and to assist those with the trauma associated from witnessing violence. Moreover, there is a need to address the underlying gender attitudes, norms, and stereotypes that perpetuate violence through intervention and prevention programmes in various spheres, especially schools, if we are to prevent the inter-generational cycle of violence.