Expanding a primary prevention program to address sexual and gender-based violence among health sciences students in Ghana: A pilot study
Seidu, Abdul-Aziz, Dickson, Kwamena Sekyi, Compton, Sarah D., Owusu-Antwi, Ruth, Robba, Maria Jose Baeza, Valadez, Carrie Ann, and Munro-Kramer, Michelle L. (2025) Expanding a primary prevention program to address sexual and gender-based violence among health sciences students in Ghana: A pilot study. Women's Health, 21. 17455057251353328.
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) is a human rights and social justice issue that impacts individuals worldwide, particularly university students. The literature demonstrates that culturally and contextually tailored programs to reduce and ultimately prevent SGBV for university students have received little priority in sub-Saharan African countries. OBJECTIVES: This pilot study assessed the feasibility, acceptability, and safety of the peer-delivered Relationship Tidbits intervention for use with health science students in Ghana. DESIGN: We conducted a pilot feasibility test to determine if this approach and content were feasible for this setting and these students. METHODS: Health science students enrolled at a central university in Ghana were recruited in July 2019 for participation in a peer-delivered primary prevention intervention, Relationship Tidbits. All participants completed pre- and post-test surveys focused on acceptability, safety, gender equality, and rape myth acceptance. RESULTS: Health science student participants (n = 137) had a significant history of physical abuse, sexual abuse, and emotional abuse. Overall, this pilot study demonstrated that the Relationship Tidbits intervention is feasible, acceptable, and safe for use with health science students in Ghana during their university education. While this study was not powered to focus on outcomes, there were indications that this short, one-time intervention may result in at least short-term attitudinal changes related to gender equality and rape myth acceptance. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study highlight the importance of implementing comprehensive, culturally appropriate SGBV prevention efforts in Ghanaian university settings.
| Item ID: | 88696 |
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| Item Type: | Article (Research - C1) |
| ISSN: | 1745-5065 |
| Keywords: | Ghana, higher education institutions, intimate partner violence, primary prevention, sexual and gender-based violence, sexual violence |
| Copyright Information: | © The Author(s) 2025. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). |
| Date Deposited: | 22 Jun 2026 05:53 |
| FoR Codes: | 42 HEALTH SCIENCES > 4206 Public health > 420606 Social determinants of health @ 100% |
| SEO Codes: | 20 HEALTH > 2004 Public health (excl. specific population health) > 200401 Behaviour and health @ 100% |
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