Sexual coercion, especially forced sexual debut, is associated with lifelong adverse health consequences. This is compounded in regions, such as Uganda, where the dual impact of HIV and violence critically shapes women's sexual health risks. Among a sample of women in HIV serodiscordant relationships, we investigated the prevalence and consequences of forced sexual debut. Data for this analysis come from the Highly Active Antiretroviral Treatment as Prevention (HAARP) Study, a cohort of HIV serodiscordant couples in Jinja, Eastern Uganda, and investigates the role of forced sexual debut on two outcomes: age of sexual debut and having more than three lifetime sexual partners. Bivariate and multivariate linear regressions were used to model age at sexual debut using β and adjusted (A) β and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions were used to model having more than three lifetime sexual partners and used odds ratios (ORs) and adjusted OR (AOR) and 95% CI. A total of 574 women were included in this analysis, median age 35 years, and 241 (41.99%) were living with HIV. A quarter (24.21%) of women experienced forced sexual debut at the median age of 16 years. Forced sexual debut was significantly associated with earlier age of sexual debut (β = -1.17, 95% CI: [-1.64, -0.68]). Forced sexual debut was significantly associated with having more than three sexual partners (AOR: 1.99, 95% CI: [1.33, 2.99]), in addition to older age (AOR: 1.02, 95% CI: [1.01, 1.05]). Speaking Lusoga, the primary language in Jinja (the study site) was associated with lower odds of having more than three sexual partners (AOR: 0.63, 95% CI: [0.43, 0.92]). Forced sexual debut was a common experience significantly associated with younger age of sexual debut and higher number of lifetime sexual partners. Safe and consensual first sexual experiences for young women play an important role in reducing HIV risk and lay the foundation for healthy and safe sexual health.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0886260517752155 | DOI Listing |
J Assoc Nurses AIDS Care
January 2025
Cho-Hee Shrader, PhD, MPH, is a Postdoctoral Research Scholar and MS Nursing Student, Arizona State University, College of Nursing and Health Innovation, Phoenix, Arizona, USA.
Adolescent girls and young women ages 15-29 years (AGYW) living in Lesotho experience a disproportionate HIV burden. Using a household-based national survey in Lesotho, we conducted a three-step latent class analysis to identify typologies of AGYW most vulnerable to HIV infection. We first classified AGYW into HIV vulnerability groups based on self-reported sexual behaviors, then identified associations between typology and HIV diagnosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMJ Open
December 2024
Reproductive Health, Gulu University, Gulu, Uganda.
Background: Following the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an increase in teenage pregnancies nationally, however, limited data exists regarding the same among girls living in refugee settlements.
Objectives: We evaluated the prevalence of teenage pregnancy and associated factors in Palorinya and Bidi Bidi refugee settlements in Obongi and Yumbe districts of northern Uganda, in the post-COVID-19 era.
Design: We conducted a cross-sectional study.
Sex Transm Dis
December 2024
Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, and the Center for AIDS and STD, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
Objectives: Women who report sex with women are thought to have lower risk for Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) infection than women who report sex with men only (WSM-only), but comparisons of lifetime burden are limited.
Methods: Among 1,418 sexually-experienced women aged 18-39 years participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2013-2016), we estimated weighted CT seroprevalence and Wald-based 95% confidence intervals (CI) in women who reported ever having sex with a woman (all reported having sex with men also) (WSWM) compared to WSM-only. We defined seropositivity as detection of Pgp3 antibodies and used stratified Poisson regression with robust standard errors to estimate prevalence ratios.
PLOS Glob Public Health
December 2024
Department of International Health, Center for Immunization Research, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America.
Coinfection with human papillomavirus (HPV) and HIV compounds the risks of developing cervical, anal, and HPV-associated oral neoplasia. Safe prophylactic vaccines are available to prevent HPV infections in people with HIV(PWH). Yet, vaccine efficacy and duration of protection remain questionable.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWomens Health (Lond)
December 2024
Institute of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, LMU University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany.
Background: Pregnancy in adolescents continues to remain a significant public health challenge, with repeat pregnancies in this age group often receiving insufficient attention. In Uganda, repeat adolescent pregnancy varies between 26.1% and 55.
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