AIDSImpact.com:: - Santa Fe, USA 2011

Abstract #146 - Non-consensual sex and association with incident HIV infection among women: a cohort study in rural Uganda, 1990-2008
Authors: Presenting Author: Dr Isolde Birdthistle - London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Additional Authors: Mr. Billy Mayanja, Dr. Dermot Maher, Ms. Sian Floyd, Prof. Janet Seeley, Dr. Helen Weiss,
Aim: Non-consensual sex is associated with HIV infection in Africa, but there is little longitudinal data on this association. We describe reported non-consensual sex among women over two decades in rural southwest Uganda, including associations with incident HIV infection.
Method / Issue: Between 1990-2008 in rural southwestern Uganda, consenting individuals in a population cohort who recently seroconverted to HIV were enrolled into a clinical cohort, along with randomly selected HIV-negative controls. Participants were invited to the study clinic every 3 months, and females asked about recent experiences of sex against their will (since their last visit). At enrolment, associations of non-consensual sex with HIV status were analysed using conditional logistic regression. With data from all visits, this association was analysed using logistic regression, with odds ratios (OR) adjusted for age and year of interview, allowing for within-woman correlation.
Results / Comments: 476 women aged 14-81 enrolled and attended 10,475 visits over 19 years. At the time of enrolment or seroconversion, 24% (41/188) of incident HIV and 16% (23/166) of HIV-negative participants reported non-consensual sex in the past year (adjusted OR=0.93, 95%CI 0.47-1.82). Among those who reported recent non-consensual sex at any visit, most (80/119) did so more than once, including 48% in over half their visits. Using data from all visits, reports of recent non-consensual sex were higher among HIV-positive than HIV-negative participants (22% vs 9%; aOR=2.29, 95%CI=1.03-5.09), with the strongest associations among women aged 14-22, those over 50 years, and married participants.
Discussion: The study is one of few to capture experiences of non-consensual sex and HIV infection prospectively rather than retrospectively. It shows high levels of repeated sex against one’s will, with many women in this Ugandan population reporting new episodes of non-consensual sex in most or all of their visits. At all ages, and in all years, reports of recent non-consensual sex were higher among women enrolled as incident HIV cases than HIV-negative participants, and highest among the youngest and oldest HIV positive women. Gender-sensitive HIV programmes should address repeated sexual coercion before and subsequent to HIV infection.
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