Victims and Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence Among Sexually Active Youth in a Community With a High HIV Prevalence in Western Kenya.

Background: Physical intimate partner violence (IPV) is an important risk factor for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. We set out to determine the prevalence and correlates of IPV among youth aged 15 to 24 years - in a community with a high HIV prevalence - with a view to recommending strategies to address IPV.

Methods: We analysed data from an HIV seroprevalence survey, which included participants aged 13 years and above and was conducted between November 2012 and December 2014 in Gem Subcounty, Siaya County, Western Kenya.

Shame, guilt, and stress: Community perceptions of barriers to engaging in prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) programs in western Kenya.

While global scale-up of prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) services has been expansive, only half of HIV-infected pregnant women receive antiretroviral regimens for PMTCT in sub-Saharan Africa. To evaluate social factors influencing uptake of PMTCT in rural Kenya, we conducted a community-based, cross-sectional survey of mothers residing in the KEMRI/CDC Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) area. Factors included referrals and acceptability, HIV-related stigma, observed discrimination, and knowledge of violence.

Community-based evaluation of PMTCT uptake in Nyanza Province, Kenya.

Introduction: Facility-based assessments of prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) programs may overestimate population coverage. There are few community-based studies that evaluate PMTCT coverage and uptake.

Methods: During 2011, a cross-sectional community survey among women who gave birth in the prior year was performed using the KEMRI-CDC Health and Demographic Surveillance System in Western Kenya.

Geographic distribution of HIV stigma among women of childbearing age in rural Kenya.

Objective(s): HIV stigma is considered to be a major driver of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, yet there is a limited understanding of its occurrence. We describe the geographic patterns of two forms of HIV stigma in a cross-sectional sample of women of childbearing age from western Kenya: internalized stigma (associated with shame) and externalized stigma (associated with blame).

Design: Geographic studies of HIV stigma provide a first step in generating hypotheses regarding potential community-level causes of stigma and may lead to more effective community-level interventions.