Longitudinal Trajectories of Physical Intimate Partner Violence Among Adolescent Girls in Rural South Africa: Findings From HPTN 068.

Purpose: Little is known about temporal patterns of physical intimate partner violence (PIPV) among South African adolescent girls. We sought to identify and describe PIPV risk trajectories and related correlates in this population.

Methods: Our analytical cohort came from the HPTN 068 Cash Transfer Trial in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa.

Pharmacists' attitudes and practices about selling syringes to people who inject drugs in Tajikistan: Results of a syringe purchase audit and a survey.

Background: In Tajikistan, governmental policies leave the decision whether or not to sell syringes to people who inject drugs (PWID) to pharmacists' discretion. This exploratory study tests a theory-driven model explaining Tajikistani pharmacists' actual syringe sale practices to inform future HIV advocacy activities.

Methods: Data were collected via attempts to purchase syringes without prescription and a subsequent survey among a sample of 232 pharmacists in two cities (Dushanbe and Kulob) in Tajikistan in 2015.

Stigmatization of people who inject drugs (PWID) by pharmacists in Tajikistan: sociocultural context and implications for a pharmacy-based prevention approach.

Background: Pharmacies are an important source of sterile syringes for people who inject drugs (PWID) in Tajikistan who are under high risk of HIV and hepatitis C virus. Accessibility of sterile syringes at pharmacies without prescription may depend on pharmacists' attitudes towards PWID. This qualitative inquiry examines meanings and processes of stigmatization of PWID among pharmacists and pharmacy students in Tajikistan.

Agency as a mediator in the pathway from transactional sex to HIV among pregnant women in Swaziland: a multigroup path analysis.

Introduction: Transactional sex is a structural driver of HIV for women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa. In transactional relationships, sexual and economic obligations intertwine and may have positive and negative effects on women's financial standing and social status. We conducted a clinic-based survey with pregnant women in Swaziland using a locally validated transactional sex scale to measure the association between subjective social status, transactional sex, and HIV status, and to assess whether this association differed according to a woman's agency within her relationship.

The gender dimensions of social networks and help-seeking behaviors of young adults in Soweto, South Africa.

Background: Young people constitute a major proportion of the general population and are influenced by a variety of factors, especially in regards to seeking help. An understanding of help-seeking behaviors among young people is important for designing and implementing effective targeted health services.

Methods: We conducted in-depth interviews with 23 young adults aged 21-22 years in Soweto, South Africa, to explore the gender dimensions of social networks and help-seeking behaviors.

The feminine ideal and transactional sex: Navigating respectability and risk in Swaziland.

Women who engage in transactional sex are not only at increased risk of HIV and intimate partner violence, but also face social risks including gossip and ostracism. These social and physical risks may be dependent on both what a woman expects and needs from her partner and how her community perceives the relationship. Gender theory suggests that some of these social risks may hinge on whether or not a woman's relationship threatens dominant masculinity.

The Development and Validation of the Indian Family Violence and Control Scale.

The high prevalence of domestic violence (DV) among married women in India and associated negative health repercussions highlight the need for effective prevention strategies and tools to measure the efficacy of such interventions. Literature supporting differing manifestations of DV by culture underscores the need for a culturally-tailored scale to more effectively measure DV in the Indian context. We therefore aimed to develop and validate such a tool, the Indian Family Violence and Control Scale (IFVCS), through a mixed-methods study.

Cultural consensus modeling to measure transactional sex in Swaziland: Scale building and validation.

Transactional sex is associated with increased risk of HIV and gender based violence in southern Africa and around the world. However the typical quantitative operationalization, "the exchange of gifts or money for sex," can be at odds with a wide array of relationship types and motivations described in qualitative explorations. To build on the strengths of both qualitative and quantitative research streams, we used cultural consensus models to identify distinct models of transactional sex in Swaziland.

How well does the World Health Organization definition of domestic violence work for India?

Domestic violence (DV) is reported by 40% of married women in India and associated with substantial morbidity. An operational research definition is therefore needed to enhance understanding of DV epidemiology in India and inform DV interventions and measures. To arrive at a culturally-tailored definition, we aimed to better understand how definitions provided by the World Health Organization and the 2005 India Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act match the perceptions of behaviors constituting DV among the Indian community.

Not everyone can afford an apple a day: stigma and food insecurity in rural South African young adults.

The HIV epidemic in South Africa has created a generation of orphaned and vulnerable children (OVCs). Little is known about the experiences of these "former" OVCs once they pass their 18th birthday. We conducted a qualitative study to understand the experiences of food insecurity for rural South African young adults.

Perpetration of physical and sexual abuse and subsequent fathering of pregnancies among a cohort of young South African men: a longitudinal study.

Background: Young men's involvement in fathering pregnancies has been substantially neglected in unintended pregnancy research. Gender norms give men substantial power and control over sexual encounters, suggesting that understanding men's role is imperative. We tested the hypothesis that young, unmarried South African men who had perpetrated intimate partner violence (IPV) have a greater incidence of fathering pregnancies.

Risk factors for unplanned and unwanted teenage pregnancies occurring over two years of follow-up among a cohort of young South African women.

Background: Although teenage pregnancies in South Africa have declined, the short and longer term health and social consequences are a potential public health concern. This longitudinal study aimed to describe the range of risk and protective factors for incident unwanted and unplanned pregnancies occurring over 2 years of follow-up among a cohort of adolescent women in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. It also investigated the relationship between gender inequality and gender-based violence and subsequent unplanned and unwanted pregnancies among the cohort.

Early adolescent pregnancy increases risk of incident HIV infection in the Eastern Cape, South Africa: a longitudinal study.

Introduction: Adolescents having unprotected heterosexual intercourse are at risk of HIV infection and unwanted pregnancy. However, there is little evidence to indicate whether pregnancy in early adolescence increases the risk of subsequent HIV infection. In this paper, we tested the hypothesis that adolescent pregnancy (aged 15 or younger) increases the risk of incident HIV infection in young South African women.

Prevalence of Substance Use and Intimate Partner Violence in a Sample of A/PI MSM.

This study evaluates the prevalence of three forms of intimate partner violence (IPV) (i.e., experience of physical, psychological/symbolic, and sexual battering) among a national sample of Asian/Pacific Islander (A/PI) men who have sex with men (MSM) in the United States and identifies their characteristics.

Prevalence of consensual male-male sex and sexual violence, and associations with HIV in South Africa: a population-based cross-sectional study.

Background: In sub-Saharan Africa the population prevalence of men who have sex with men (MSM) is unknown, as is the population prevalence of male-on-male sexual violence, and whether male-on-male sexual violence may relate to HIV risk. This paper describes lifetime prevalence of consensual male-male sexual behavior and male-on-male sexual violence (victimization and perpetration) in two South African provinces, socio-demographic factors associated with these experiences, and associations with HIV serostatus.

Methods And Findings: In a cross-sectional study conducted in 2008, men aged 18-49 y from randomly selected households in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces provided anonymous survey data and dried blood spots for HIV serostatus assessment.

Prevalence and factors associated with depressive symptoms among young women and men in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa.

Purpose: There is little research on prevalence of depressive symptoms and associated factors among youth in sub-Saharan Africa. This paper explores factors associated with depressive symptomatology in South Africa.

Methods: A cross-sectional analysis of interviews with 1 415 women and 1 368 men aged 15-26 was undertaken.

Male-on-male intimate partner violence and sexual risk behaviors among money boys and other men who have sex with men in Shanghai, China.

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is known to increase HIV risk among heterosexual women, but less is known about IPV and HIV among men who have sex with men (MSM), with almost no data from non-Western countries. This study examined the prevalence of IPV and links between IPV and HIV risks among MSM in Shanghai, China.

Methods: A cross-sectional sample of 404 money boys (male sex workers) and other MSM were recruited via respondent-driven sampling.

Gender-based violence and HIV: reviewing the evidence for links and causal pathways in the general population and high-risk groups.

A growing body of international research documents strong associations between gender-based violence and HIV, both in the general population and among high-risk subpopulations such as female sex workers. The causal pathways responsible are multiple and complex, thus conceptual clarity is needed to best inform population-based, clinical, and individually oriented interventions. Our brief overview is intended to provide an introduction to the research on the various mechanisms that link GBV to HIV risk.

Associations between depressive symptoms, sexual behaviour and relationship characteristics: a prospective cohort study of young women and men in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.

Background: Psychological factors are often neglected in HIV research, although psychological distress is common in low- to middle-income countries, such as South Africa. There is a need to deepen our understanding of the role of mental health factors in the HIV epidemic. We set out to investigate whether baseline depressive symptomatology was associated with risky sexual behaviour and relationship characteristics of men and women at baseline, as well as those found 12 months later.

Economically motivated relationships and transactional sex among unmarried African American and white women: results from a U.S. national telephone survey.

Objective: We explored links among economically motivated relationships, transactional sex, and risk behavior for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among unmarried African American and white women.

Methods: We drew on data from 1,371 unmarried African American and white women aged 20 to 45 years that we collected via a random-digit-dial telephone survey in the U.S.

New heterosexually transmitted HIV infections in married or cohabiting couples in urban Zambia and Rwanda: an analysis of survey and clinical data.

Background: Sub-Saharan Africa has a high rate of HIV infection, most of which is attributable to heterosexual transmission. Few attempts have been made to assess the extent of HIV transmission within marriages, and HIV-prevention efforts remain focused on abstinence and non-marital sex. We aimed to estimate the proportion of heterosexual transmission of HIV which occurs within married or cohabiting couples in urban Zambia and Rwanda each year.

Effective HIV prevention requires gender-transformative work with men.

Broad socially transformative programs that promote gender equality and discourage perpetration of gender‐based violence and are needed to combat the global HIV pandemic See linked article, p211

Transactional sex with casual and main partners among young South African men in the rural Eastern Cape: prevalence, predictors, and associations with gender-based violence.

We explored the prevalence and predictors of transactional sex with casual partners and main girlfriends among 1288 men aged 15-26 from 70 villages in the rural Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews with young men enroling in the Stepping Stones HIV prevention trial. A total of 17.

Perpetration of partner violence and HIV risk behaviour among young men in the rural Eastern Cape, South Africa.

Objectives: To examine associations between the perpetration of intimate partner violence and HIV risk behaviour among young men in rural South Africa.

Design: An analysis of baseline data from men enrolling in a randomized controlled trial of the behavioural intervention, Stepping Stones.

Methods: Structured interviews with 1275 sexually experienced men aged 15-26 years from 70 villages in the rural Eastern Cape.

Transactional sex among women in Soweto, South Africa: prevalence, risk factors and association with HIV infection.

Sex workers have long been considered a high-risk group for HIV infection, but to date little quantitative research has explored the association between HIV risk and exchange of sex for material gain by women in the general population. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of such transactional sex among women attending antenatal clinics in Soweto, South Africa, to identify demographic and social variables associated with reporting transactional sex, and to determine the association between transactional sex and HIV serostatus. We conducted a cross-sectional study of women seeking antenatal care in four Soweto health centres who accepted routine antenatal HIV testing.