Can Economic Assets Increase Girls' Risk of Sexual Harassment?
Evaluation results from a social, health and economic asset-building intervention for vulnerable adolescent girls in Uganda
This study examines the effect of a multi-dimensional intervention to build social, health and economic assets, as well as experiences of sexual harassment, among vulnerable adolescent girls aged 10–19 living in low income areas in Kampala, Uganda. Girls who only received a savings account were at increased risk of sexual harassment. Social and health components combined with savings helped mitigate against this risk.
The study compares two treatment groups to a comparison group. The first treatment group received the full intervention – safe spaces group meetings with reproductive health and financial education plus savings accounts – while the second group only received a savings account. Findings indicate that the full intervention was associated with improvement in girls' health and economic assets. While girls who only had a savings account increased their economic assets, they were also more likely to have been sexually touched (OR = 3.146; P < 0.01) and harassed by men (OR = 1.962; P < 0.05).
This suggests that economic asset building on its own, without the protection afforded by strengthening social assets, including social networks, as well as reproductive health knowledge, can leave vulnerable girls at increased risk of the sexual violence.