INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE ON KNOWLEDGE OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE AMONG COLLEGE MEDICAL STUDENTS IN KENYA

Sexual violence is a violation of human rights and a serious public health problem. It has a profound impact on physical, social and mental health, both immediately and many years after the assault. Sexual violence in Kenya, as elsewhere in the world, is a complex issue that has as its root the structural inequalities between men and women that result in the persistence of power differentials between the sexes. Across the globe, social media sites are increasingly becoming a key point of reference in people’s lives. Worldwide, there are about 2.8 billion internet users out of which about a third are in developing countries Ngwa, Kudi, Shu, Mbarika and Mbarika (2008) argue This research project explores the relationship between sexual violence and social media with a focus on youth. The research seeks to investigate influence of social media reporting on knowledge of sexual violence amongst the Medical students at MTC kakamega. The significance was set on the need to research the sexual violence among the medical students. The research was advised of the several research gaps on controversial sexual violence studies that were not base on the social media. Descriptive survey was employed with a target population of 300 students who were at the medical college during the survey. Convenience sampling done with the data collected by use of questionnaires submitted electronically through social media and a pilot study done on KMTC webuye. Data was analysed using SPSS v.25 and data presented using graphs and tables. The data was reliable at alpha .824 and without outliers. More female 54.87% than male was evidenced from the responses. Majority 21.7% of 20 years of age and more social media users 98.6%. more acknowledge that social media as a source of information and 79% agree to have read sexual violence stories of victims on social media. Sources and forms of sexual violence were positively identified by many. Complete and/or attempted penetration of a victim was identified by many 72.5% as a sexual violence. But after all this revelation and positive identification of sexual violence forms very few people report to the police. Testing of the hypothesis was done and the first null hypothesis second null hypothesis was rejected (X²=19.609, p>0.001). recommendations are made to the government to enhance policy formation for the governance of sexual violence and protecting the youths and increasing capitation for curbing sexual violence. Future studies are recommended on lecturers and students not only in the medical students but also in other departments of the college and expand to other universities not only KMTC Kakamega.