Hassen Fatuma, Deyassa Ngussie
School of Medical Laboratory Science, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
BMC Res Notes. 2013 Jul 15;6:271. doi: 10.1186/1756-0500-6-271.
Gender based violence affects the health and wellbeing of women across the world on an epidemic scale. While women remain more vulnerable to both sexual violence and risk of HIV infection, they are less able to access health and other welfare services than men. These vulnerabilities are further compounded by social factors, including the low status of women in many communities and their lack of decision-making power, both within the household and in wider society. The objective of this study was to assess the relationship between sexual violence and HIV infection among clients of voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) services in South Wollo Zone, Ethiopia.
A facility based cross sectional study was conducted using quantitative methods on a sample of 647 people living in seven selected districts of South Wollo Zone, Amhara Regional State.
The study revealed that sexual violence is significantly associated with the risk of HIV infection. The prevalence of lifetime sexual violence, lifetime partner violence, and last 12 months partner violence were 34.6%, 32.3% and 10.5% respectively. Both partner violence and lifetime sexual violence by another perpetrator were associated with HIV. The overall prevalence of HIV among VCT users was 21.5%. Both before (crude analysis) and after the results were adjusted for selected variables, women who experienced sexual violence in the last 12 months by their intimate partner or by another perpetrator is significantly associated with their HIV status. The chances of having HIV was 1.97 times higher among women victims who have a history of lifetime partner violence when compared with women who are not victims; crude odds ratio (COR) = 1.97, 95% Confidence Interval (CI), (1.34 - 2.90).
The study revealed that sexual violence is significantly associated with the risk of HIV infection. Empowerment of women can be used as an important tool to reduce both sexual violence and HIV. More importantly policy issues must be set by all actors to take action on the mediating variables that interacted with violence to aggravate the transmission of HIV.
基于性别的暴力在全球范围内以流行规模影响着女性的健康和福祉。虽然女性仍然更容易遭受性暴力和感染艾滋病毒的风险，但与男性相比，她们获得医疗和其他福利服务的能力较弱。这些脆弱性因社会因素而进一步加剧，包括许多社区中女性地位低下以及她们在家庭和更广泛社会中缺乏决策权。本研究的目的是评估埃塞俄比亚南沃洛地区自愿咨询和检测（VCT）服务客户中性暴力与艾滋病毒感染之间的关系。
在阿姆哈拉州南沃洛地区七个选定地区的647名居民样本上，采用定量方法进行了一项基于机构的横断面研究。
研究表明，性暴力与艾滋病毒感染风险显著相关。终身性暴力、终身伴侣暴力和过去12个月伴侣暴力的患病率分别为34.6%、32.3%和10.5%。伴侣暴力和另一名施暴者的终身性暴力都与艾滋病毒有关。VCT使用者中艾滋病毒的总体患病率为21.5%。在对选定变量进行结果调整之前（粗略分析）和之后，过去12个月内遭受亲密伴侣或另一名施暴者性暴力的女性与她们的艾滋病毒感染状况显著相关。有终身伴侣暴力史的女性受害者感染艾滋病毒的几率比未受害者高1.97倍；粗略比值比（COR）=1.97，95%置信区间（CI），（1.34 - 2.90）。
研究表明，性暴力与艾滋病毒感染风险显著相关。增强妇女权能可作为减少性暴力和艾滋病毒的重要工具。更重要的是，所有行为者都必须制定政策问题，以对与暴力相互作用从而加剧艾滋病毒传播的中介变量采取行动。
