Intimate Partner Violence, Relationship Power Inequity and the Role of Sexual and Social Risk Factors in the Production of Violence among Young Women Who Have Multiple Sexual Partners in a Peri-Urban Setting in South Africa.
This paper aims to assess the extent and correlates of intimate partner violence (IPV), explore relationship power inequity and the role of sexual and social risk factors in the production of violence among young women aged 16-24 reporting more than one partner in the past three months in a peri-urb...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2015-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4658116?pdf=render |
| _version_ | 1828962429774594048 |
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| author | Yanga Z Zembe Loraine Townsend Anna Thorson Margrethe Silberschmidt Anna Mia Ekstrom |
| author_facet | Yanga Z Zembe Loraine Townsend Anna Thorson Margrethe Silberschmidt Anna Mia Ekstrom |
| author_sort | Yanga Z Zembe |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper aims to assess the extent and correlates of intimate partner violence (IPV), explore relationship power inequity and the role of sexual and social risk factors in the production of violence among young women aged 16-24 reporting more than one partner in the past three months in a peri-urban setting in the Western Cape, South Africa. Recent estimates suggest that every six hours a woman is killed by an intimate partner in South Africa, making IPV a leading public health problem in the country. While there is mounting evidence that levels of IPV are high in peri-urban settings in South Africa, not much is known about how it manifests among women who engage in concomitantly high HIV risk behaviours such as multiple sexual partnering, transactional sex and age mixing. We know even less about how such women negotiate power and control if exposed to violence in such sexual networks.Two hundred and fifty nine women with multiple sexual partners, residing in a predominantly Black peri-urban community in the Western Cape, South Africa, were recruited into a bio-behavioural survey using Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS). After the survey, focus group discussions and individual interviews were conducted among young women and men to understand the underlying factors informing their risk behaviours and experiences of violence.86% of the young women experienced IPV in the past 12 months. Sexual IPV was significantly correlated with sex with a man who was 5 years or older than the index female partner (OR 1.7, 95% CI 1.0-3.2) and transactional sex with most recent casual partner (OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.1-3.8). Predictably, women experienced high levels of relationship power inequity. However, they also identified areas in their controlling relationships where they shared decision making power.Levels of IPV among young women with multiple sexual partners were much higher than what is reported among women in the general population and shown to be associated with sexual risk taking. Interventions targeting IPV need to address sexual risk taking as it heightens vulnerability to violence. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T10:03:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f3e6726c6c8444ebb586a5707100b3ce |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T10:03:54Z |
| publishDate | 2015-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-f3e6726c6c8444ebb586a5707100b3ce2022-12-21T23:07:11ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032015-01-011011e013943010.1371/journal.pone.0139430Intimate Partner Violence, Relationship Power Inequity and the Role of Sexual and Social Risk Factors in the Production of Violence among Young Women Who Have Multiple Sexual Partners in a Peri-Urban Setting in South Africa.Yanga Z ZembeLoraine TownsendAnna ThorsonMargrethe SilberschmidtAnna Mia EkstromThis paper aims to assess the extent and correlates of intimate partner violence (IPV), explore relationship power inequity and the role of sexual and social risk factors in the production of violence among young women aged 16-24 reporting more than one partner in the past three months in a peri-urban setting in the Western Cape, South Africa. Recent estimates suggest that every six hours a woman is killed by an intimate partner in South Africa, making IPV a leading public health problem in the country. While there is mounting evidence that levels of IPV are high in peri-urban settings in South Africa, not much is known about how it manifests among women who engage in concomitantly high HIV risk behaviours such as multiple sexual partnering, transactional sex and age mixing. We know even less about how such women negotiate power and control if exposed to violence in such sexual networks.Two hundred and fifty nine women with multiple sexual partners, residing in a predominantly Black peri-urban community in the Western Cape, South Africa, were recruited into a bio-behavioural survey using Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS). After the survey, focus group discussions and individual interviews were conducted among young women and men to understand the underlying factors informing their risk behaviours and experiences of violence.86% of the young women experienced IPV in the past 12 months. Sexual IPV was significantly correlated with sex with a man who was 5 years or older than the index female partner (OR 1.7, 95% CI 1.0-3.2) and transactional sex with most recent casual partner (OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.1-3.8). Predictably, women experienced high levels of relationship power inequity. However, they also identified areas in their controlling relationships where they shared decision making power.Levels of IPV among young women with multiple sexual partners were much higher than what is reported among women in the general population and shown to be associated with sexual risk taking. Interventions targeting IPV need to address sexual risk taking as it heightens vulnerability to violence.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4658116?pdf=render |
| spellingShingle | Yanga Z Zembe Loraine Townsend Anna Thorson Margrethe Silberschmidt Anna Mia Ekstrom Intimate Partner Violence, Relationship Power Inequity and the Role of Sexual and Social Risk Factors in the Production of Violence among Young Women Who Have Multiple Sexual Partners in a Peri-Urban Setting in South Africa. PLoS ONE |
| title | Intimate Partner Violence, Relationship Power Inequity and the Role of Sexual and Social Risk Factors in the Production of Violence among Young Women Who Have Multiple Sexual Partners in a Peri-Urban Setting in South Africa. |
| title_full | Intimate Partner Violence, Relationship Power Inequity and the Role of Sexual and Social Risk Factors in the Production of Violence among Young Women Who Have Multiple Sexual Partners in a Peri-Urban Setting in South Africa. |
| title_fullStr | Intimate Partner Violence, Relationship Power Inequity and the Role of Sexual and Social Risk Factors in the Production of Violence among Young Women Who Have Multiple Sexual Partners in a Peri-Urban Setting in South Africa. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Intimate Partner Violence, Relationship Power Inequity and the Role of Sexual and Social Risk Factors in the Production of Violence among Young Women Who Have Multiple Sexual Partners in a Peri-Urban Setting in South Africa. |
| title_short | Intimate Partner Violence, Relationship Power Inequity and the Role of Sexual and Social Risk Factors in the Production of Violence among Young Women Who Have Multiple Sexual Partners in a Peri-Urban Setting in South Africa. |
| title_sort | intimate partner violence relationship power inequity and the role of sexual and social risk factors in the production of violence among young women who have multiple sexual partners in a peri urban setting in south africa |
| url | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4658116?pdf=render |
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