"as a form of punishment to them. The examples given simply show that children are facingeconomic violence in the households and it negatively affects their wellbeing. Fourthly, sexualviolence is another form of domestic violence against children. Respondents expressed that somechildren are experiencing sexual violence in the households. These participants said that childrenare exposed to sexual violence, such as touching of body sexual organs and kissing on the mouth,against their will. A 15 year old girl during the interview reported to be a victim of sexual abuse.She said ?My uncle always forcefully touches my breasts, and kissed me on the mouth. And I amdisappointed? This shows that children are victims of sexual violence in the homes and itnegatively affects their feelings and thinking. Fifthly, respondents reported another form ofviolence which is witnessing physical violence. Participants said that sometimes children observeand hear their parents or guardians fighting or insulting at each other. During the focus groupdiscussion a 14 years old boy said ?It hurts me because my father frequently beats and insults mymom.? This simply indicates that observing parental physical and verbal violence can negativelyaffects the child. Of all these forms of violence the highest reported is emotional violence andthe least reported is witnessing physical violence, representing 40% and 3.3% respectively.These findings found that children are exposed to domestic violence ,such as emotional,physical, sexual and economic violence. In the respect of the study results it can be pointed outthat children are experiencing different forms of domestic violence in their homes.The study results also show that the perpetrators of violence vary according to whom one isstaying with at that moment. More students reported experiencing violence perpetrated by theirmothers. so maybe this is because children spent more time with their mothers at home. Otherperpetrators reported by students include; stepmothers, fathers, stepfathers, uncles, aunt andfinally, sister in law (brother‘s wife). In this regard the highest perpetrator is mother and the least perpetrator is sister in law, representing 30% and 3.3%, respectively. However, by going througha specific gender, it shows that the gender of the perpetrator varies according to the gender of thevictim. The Highest number of girls reported experiencing violence perpetrated by mothers whilemore boys reported experiencing violence perpetrated by their fathers. the most perpetrator ofviolence against a girl child is the mother and for a boy child is the father.Findings show that 80% of students who experienced violence did not report the cases ofdomestic violence against them. During the focus group discussion and interviews the studentssaid that they do not report cases of domestic violence because they fear the consequences, likethey fear that the violence may worsen, or to be abandoned or rejected as a family member bytheir parents or guardians. While others said they never thought of reporting cases of domesticviolence against them. Sometimes even the reasons for lack of reporting are children‘s lackingcapacity to report and also children are afraid of reprisals by perpetrators. In this case, therefore,it can be deduced that children do not report domestic violence because they fear the potentialconsequences and others lack capacity to report.Causes of domestic violence against childrenBoth students and adults gave various suggestions on the causes of domestic violence againstchildren in the households. More respondents (40%) reported powerless status of children as themain cause of domestic violence against them in the households. Their low social status in thehierarchy of power in the society left children prone to domestic violence. Thus, power based onparent-child relationship. Children are being violated just because they are children. Secondly,respondents reported poverty as a cause of domestic violence against children. According tothem poor living conditions create pressure on the family and stress on the parenting of thatfamily leading to domestic violence. Thirdly, respondents reported drug and alcohol abuse as a cause of violence. also drug and alcohol abuse may create the poor relationship between parents(or guardians) and children, in the long run, this may lead to domestic violence against children.Fourthly, respondents mentioned child‘s misbehavior as a cause of domestic violence sinceadults may apply excessive punishment or rough treatment in order to put the bad behavior undercontrol. Apart from the above points, respondents also mentioned other causes of domesticviolence like jealousy and parent‘s ignorance. Of these points, the highest reported cause waspowerless status of children and least reported was child‘s misbehavior, representing 40% and5% respectively. Effects of domestic violence on schooling childrenAll respondents, thus 100% of students and adults conceded that domestic violence againstchildren negatively affects education of the victim (child) in one way or the other. Therespondents went further by stating various ways in which domestic violence against childrenaffects the victims‘ education. Domestic violence such as beats, insults, shouts, ignoring,denying food, sexual harassment, destruction of child personal property, threats andhumiliation, among others may result in psychological harm, emotional harm, physical pain orinjury, lack of self-confidence and lack of self-esteem on the victim (a child). These states ofaffairs have great negative impact on the victim‘s learning process since it affects the well-beingof the particular victimized child. In addition, more respondents (41.2%) said that domesticviolence against children affects the victim‘s education in the sense that it influences the abusedchild to lose interest in education. Participants added by saying that the pain or harm inflicted onchildren by violence may affect their emotional, psychological and physical well-being and theseconditions will as a result shift child‘s focus on education to a worrisome state over one self ‘slife. The second reported effect of domestic violence on schooling children is that it sometimes causes the victimized child to arrive late at school. On this note, some students said that they hadto do a certain work before going to school in the morning and these pieces of work often timesmade them to arrive late at school. The reported pieces of work range from house chores (such asfetching water, cooking or sweeping) to field work. Thirdly, students‘ absenteeism from schoolis another reported effect of domestic violence on schooling children. Respondents said that childabuse such as excessive labor, verbal aggression, food denial and physical harm can result ininfluencing a victimized child to be absent from school. More importantly, some parents tooktheir children with them to piece works instead of letting them go to school. Furthermore,dropping out of school is one of the reported effects of domestic violence on schooling children.Respondents reported that violence like withholding financial support such as not providingschool fees, uniforms and other essential things may force the victimized child to drop out ofschool. Another reported effect is changing of schools. The participants mentioned that whenparents separate due to some misunderstanding in the households some children move with theother parent to another place, this results in forcing concerned students to transfer to a schoollocated in the new area of residence. Moreover, respondents mentioned early marriage as aneffect of domestic violence on schooling children. They said that some parents force theirchildren to marry while young on the expense of going to school. Not only that but alsoemotional harm, psychological harm and physical pain inflicted to them by domestic violence,may influence a girl child in dilemma to opt for marriage as relief from a violent home. Theseinstances will automatically force the victim to drop out of school for marriage. During theinterview, a 34 years old woman gave testimony by saying that ?I opted for marriage as relieffrom my stepmother’s evil hand though I was young by then.? The highest reported effect ofdomestic violence on schooling children is loss of interest in education and the least reported "