HIV Outcomes Among Women Living With HIV Who Experienced Early Sexual Violence Across Four Sub-Saharan African Countries.

Background: Early experiences of sexual violence may influence HIV care and treatment outcomes among women living with HIV (WLHIV). We examined whether self-report by WLHIV of being forced into their first sexual experience was associated with awareness of HIV-positive status, being on antiretroviral therapy (ART) and being virologically suppressed.

Setting: We conducted a secondary analysis using nationally representative, cross-sectional Population-based HIV Impact Assessment surveys from Lesotho, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe conducted from 2015 through 2017.