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Article History

Received: 31 December 2025

Accepted: 21 April 2026

First Online: 28 April 2026

Declarations

:

: The Lesotho Violence Against Children and Youth Survey (VACS) received ethical approval from the Lesotho Ministry of Health Research and Ethics Committee, as well as the Institutional Review Boards of the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Columbia University, and Westat. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants aged 18 years and older. For participants aged 15–17 years, written assent was obtained alongside parental or guardian consent. The present study is based on secondary analysis of de-identified, publicly available survey data and therefore did not require additional ethical approval. As no intervention was conducted and no participants were recruited directly by the researchers, the study did not meet the definition of a clinical trial, and clinical trial registration was not required. Further details regarding the ethical procedures of the Lesotho VACS are available in the official survey report: .

: Not applicable.

: The authors declare no competing interests.