Table 3 Measures generated to compare experiences with sexual violence across the Kenya Violence against Children Survey (VACS) 2010, the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) 2014, and data collected from two hospitals in Kenya

 Any experience of sexual violence

How many times in your life… (1)…has anyone touched you in a sexual way without your consent, but did not try to force you to have sex? (2)…has anyone tried to make you have sex against your will but did not succeed? (3)…have you been physically forced to have sex against your will and sexual intercourse was completed? (4)…has someone pressured you to have sex when you did not want to and sex happened?

Coded 1 if answered ‘1 or more time’ to any of the items; 0 if answered ‘0 times’ to all items.

 Marital status

Are you currently married or living with someone as if married? Have you ever been married or lived with someone as if married?

Coded 1 if married/living with someone as if married; coded 2 if formerly married/lived with someone as if married; coded 3 if answering ‘No’ to both questions.

 Perpetrator known?

For each of the four forms of sexual violence addressed (above): Did you know any of the people who did this to you?

Coded 1 if answered ‘Yes’ for any of the forms of violence; 0 if answered ‘No’ to all forms of violence.

 Relationship of perpetrator to survivor

For each of the four forms of sexual violence addressed (above): Were any of the people…(a) a boyfriend/romantic partner? (b) a husband? (c) a father? (d) a mother? (e) a brother? (f) a sister? (g) an uncle? (h) an aunt? (i) another male relative? (j) another female relative? (k) a teacher? (l) police? (m) military? (n) an employer? (o) a neighbour? (p) a community elder? (q) a religious leader?

Coded 1 if answered ‘Yes’ for a given perpetrator across any of the forms of violence; 0 if answered ‘No’ for a given perpetrator across all forms of violence. Perpetrator categories regrouped to align with other datasets.

 Place where violence occurred

For each of the four forms of sexual violence addressed (above): Now think about the most recent time [this happened]? Where were you when this incident happened? (a) my home; (b) perpetrator’s home; (c) someone else’s home; (d) party; (e) public event; (f) school; (g) car/bus; (h) traveling by foot; (i) other location.

Coded 1 if answered ‘Yes’ for a given location across any of the forms of violence; 0 if answered ‘No’ for a given location across all forms of violence. Location categories regrouped to align with other datasets.

 Any experience of sexual violence

(1) Does/did your (last) partner ever do any of the following things to you…(a) physically force you to have sexual intercourse with him/her even when you did not want to? (b) physically force you to perform any other sexual acts you did not want to? (c) force you with threats or in any other way to perform sexual acts you did not want to? (2) Did any previous partner physically force you to have intercourse or perform any other sexual acts against your will? (3) At any time in your life, as a child or as an adult, has anyone [other than a partner] ever forced you in any way to have sexual intercourse or perform any other sexual acts?

Coded 1 if answered ‘Yes’ to any of the items; 0 if answered ‘No’ to all items.

 Marital status

Are you currently married or living with a man/woman? Are you formerly married/did you live with a man/woman [in the past]? Have you never been married/have you never lived with a man/woman?

Coded 1 if married/living with a man/woman; coded 2 if formerly married/lived with a man/woman; coded 3 if never married (i.e. single).

 Relationship of perpetrator to survivor

(1) Does/did your (last) partner ever do any of the following things to you…(a) physically force you to have sexual intercourse with him/her even when you did not want to? (b) physically force you to perform any other sexual acts you did not want to? (c) force you with threats or in any other way to perform sexual acts you did not want to? (2) Did any previous partner physically force you to have intercourse or perform any other sexual acts against your will? (3) At any time in your life, as a child or as an adult, has anyone [other than a partner] ever forced you in any way to have sexual intercourse or perform any other sexual acts?

Coded 1 for “Current/previous partner” if answered ‘Yes’ to questions 1a, 1b, 1c or 2; coded 2 for “Other” if answered ‘Yes’ to question 3.

 Any experience of sexual violence

N/A (participant included as having experienced sexual violence if a post-rape care form had been completed for the individual)

N/A

 Marital status

Specify your marital status (open response).

Coded 1 if married/living with someone; coded 2 if formerly married/lived with someone; coded 3 if single.

 Perpetrator known?

Were the alleged perpetrators (indicate relation to victim): Unknown or Known (check one box).

Coded 1 if ticked “Known”; 0 if ticked “Unknown”.

 Relationship of perpetrator to survivor

Does the survivor have any details on the assailant? Is the assailant known, is there any relation? (open response)

Coded 1 if a father/stepfather; coded 2 if a brother/stepbrother; coded 3 if a cousin; coded 4 if an uncle; coded 5 if another relative; coded 6 if an in-law; coded 7 if a neighbour; coded 8 if a friend/acquaintance/classmate; coded 9 if a family friend/friend to friend; coded 10 if a teacher; coded 11 if a stranger; coded 12 if a boyfriend/girlfriend; coded 13 if an ex-husband/ex-partner; coded 14 if a current husband/partner; coded 15 if a boyfriend but not considered coerced by the child; coded 16 if other. Perpetrator categories regrouped to align with other datasets.

 Place where violence occurred

Specify place where assault occurred/where incident occurred (open response).

Coded 1 if in own home; coded 2 if in perpetrator’s home; coded 3 if in someone else’s home; coded 4 if at a party; coded 5 if at a public event; coded 6 if at school; coded 7 if traveling by car/bus/foot; coded 8 if another location.