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Copyright of Revista Estudos Feministas is the property of Revista Estudos Feministas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Previous literature reports that low male partner support is a barrier to women's adherence and retention in HIV care programs. This qualitative study explored the relationships between partners to understand what is meant by male partner support in adherence of HIV-positive women in four healthcare facilities in Southern Malawi. We conducted 8 semi-structured focus group discussions (FGDs) with 73 participants (40 men and 33 women) and 10 in-depth interviews (IDIs) between August 2018 to December 2019. Participants were HIV-positive patients, healthcare workers (HCWs), expert patients (EPs), and couples attending the clinic. All data were digitally recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed using a gender-responsive grounded theory approach. This study confirms previous literature, which suggests male partner support is expressed by providing access to transport to the clinic and accompaniment to appointments. However, we found that men can also control access to resources and decision-making. Support is more complex than previous literature reported and, in some cases, gender norms significantly limit women's capacity to engage in care independently of male support since women need male partner permission to access the resources to attend clinics. This paper suggests that restrictive male-partner gender norms limit women's power to engage in care. Most importantly, the gender analysis reveals that what previous literature describes as male partner support can sometimes hide male partner control in permitting access to resources to attend health facilities. For this reason, policies enhancing male support should consider the gender power relationship between partners to avoid reinforcing gender inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Environment & Urbanization is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

There is growing interest in engaging men and boys in health and development programmes targeting the intersection of HIV risk, substance abuse, and violence. Understanding the conceptualisations of masculinities or masculine identities that shape both behaviours and opportunities for intervention is central to advancing the global agenda to engage men in health and development interventions. This paper examines an intervention using soccer and job training to engage and deliver activities for HIV prevention, substance abuse, and gender-based violence in a South African township. A literature review provides theoretical, historical and social context for the intersection of gender, masculinity, soccer, violence, and sexual relationships. Qualitative data from in-depth interviews and focus groups is analysed using theoretical and contextual frames to elucidate the negotiation of shifting, contradictory, and conflicting masculine roles. Results highlight how changing risky, normative behaviours among young men is a negotiated process entailing men's relationships with women and with other men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Culture, Health & Sexuality is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Culture, Health & Sexuality is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Despite batteries of interventions to change the dynamics of HIV in South African communities, increasing HIV prevalence suggests that much more needs to be done to stem the tides of infection. Issues of language and communication around HIV/AIDS in particular merit more attention. One aspect of the efficacy of HIV/AIDS discourses is the question of what extent they may serve to (inadvertently) reproduce sexual practices and mores inimical to HIV/AIDS prevention. This paper conducts a chronotopic and multimodal analysis of a popular South African campaign ‘Brothers for Life’ from this perspective. The campaign is an attempt to promote ‘new’ role models for South African men in order to get to grips with one of the most serious factors behind the spread of HIV/AIDS, namely male violence against women and children. The analysis suggests that past ideals of masculinity continue to find resonance in masculinities of the present, although framed, mediated and reindexicalized in late modern discourses of consumerism. Thus foundational assumptions on figurations of masculinity and male sexuality appear to remain largely consistent across generations.

This paper examines the representations and emotions associated with disclosure and stigma in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, seven years after the start of the South African government’s ARV roll-out programme on the basis of in-depth oral history interviews of HIV-positive support group members. It argues that the wider availability of ARV treatment, the ensuing reduced fatality rate and the increased number of people, including men, who receive counselling and testing, may mean that HIV/AIDS is less stigmatised and that disclosure has become easier. This does not mean that stigma has disappeared and that the confusion created by competing world-views and belief systems has dissipated. Yet the situation of extreme denial and ideological confusion observed, for example, by Deborah Posel and her colleagues in 2003 and 2004 in the Mpumalanga province seems to have lessened. The interviews hint at the possibility that people living with HIV may have, more than a decade before, a language to express the emotions and feelings associated with HIV/AIDS. They were also found to be more assertive in matters of gender relations. These new attitudes would make disclosure easier and stigma more likely to recede. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of Culture, Health & Sexuality is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Culture, Health & Sexuality is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Culture, Health & Sexuality is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper investigates the extent of knowledge about HIV/AIDS among young Yupno women and men. Local understanding of sikAIDS is shaped by cultural, moral and religious concepts and processes that are based on social values and practices. Difficulties these young people face in accessing information about HIV/AIDS and using it to implement preventative measures -- for example by obtaining condoms -- have to be seen in the framework of 'kastom' and a moral discourse coined and influenced by the Lutheran Church. As the research shows, there is an urgent need for a broad and contextually sensitive approach to sexual health, including information about conception, family planning methods, and sexually transmitted diseases when planning awareness campaigns for teenagers in rural regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Culture, Health & Sexuality is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The paper situates Zulu ngoma song and dance within the related worlds of state and gender politics in post-apartheid South Africa. It poses as its problem the difficulty of retaining the presence of individualized expression and stylized body movement in an analysis that also situates "the body" politically and theorizes it phenomenologically. In the midst of unemployment, an AIDS epidemic and a history of violence in rural KwaZulu-Natal, ngoma is a critical means to attaining responsible manhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gender has become a major conceptual tool for understanding the evolving HIV pandemic globally. As such, it has provided a powerful way to see the structure of relations between men and women as central to various epidemics, and added weight to our understanding of HIV infection as not simply an individual experience of disease. Yet, as a concept, gender has its blind spots. This paper argues that there are four issues central to our understanding of how the HIV pandemic moves and develops that are not necessarily best understood through an analysis that uses gender alone, namely: women''s vulnerability, men''s culpability, young people''s sexual interests and marginalised sexual cultures. The paper proposes using sexuality as a framework for analysing these issues and seeks to utilise developments in critical sexuality research to add to gender as a way to increase the capacity to respond to the HIV/AIDS crisis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

There are many attempts made to understand the problems of People Living with HIV/AIDS around the world, and to highlight the life lived by them. In this paper, an effort has taken to highlight the problems faced by the HIV/AIDS infected women in the state Punjab, India. An exploratory design has been adopted for the study to examine the situation in which these women were surviving. Interview method was used to collect data. In all the cases, these women got the virus from their husbands and the results suggest that they were living an ostracized life. Their innocence and commitment to relationship is obvious from the fact that they continue to live with their partner. Due to illiteracy and poverty, they were living a miserable life.

Background Previous literature reports that low male partner support is a barrier to women’s adherence and retention in HIV care programs. Objective This qualitative study explored the relationships between partners to understand what is meant by male partner support in adherence of HIV-positive women in four healthcare facilities in Southern Malawi. Methods We conducted 8 semi-structured focus group discussions (FGDs) with 73 participants (40 men and 33 women) and 10 in-depth interviews (IDIs) between August 2018 to December 2019. Participants were HIV-positive patients, healthcare workers (HCWs), expert patients (EPs), and couples attending the clinic. All data were digitally recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed using a gender-responsive grounded theory approach. Results This study confirms previous literature, which suggests male partner support is expressed by providing access to transport to the clinic and accompaniment to appointments. However, we found that men can also control access to resources and decision-making. Support is more complex than previous literature reported and, in some cases, gender norms significantly limit women’s capacity to engage in care independently of male support since women need male partner permission to access the resources to attend clinics. Conclusions This paper suggests that restrictive male-partner gender norms limit women’s power to engage in care. Most importantly, the gender analysis reveals that what previous literature describes as male partner support can sometimes hide male partner control in permitting access to resources to attend health facilities. For this reason, policies enhancing male support should consider the gender power relationship between partners to avoid reinforcing gender inequality.

Copyright of African Population Studies is the property of Union for African Population Studies and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of African Population Studies is the property of Union for African Population Studies and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The profusion of papers about HIV/AIDS is opposite to those that relate the experience of living with HIV. Since the pandemic began, women population was implicated in the progress of the pandemic process, even with risk to be taken ill or to spread the disease. Pregnancy is a privilege public health object given special rules and programmes, that leaved outside their expediencies. This work explores, applying qualitative methodology, that experience and opens bridges for comprehension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IntroductionPower imbalances within sexual relationships have significant implications for HIV prevention in sub-Saharan Africa. Little is known about how power influences the quality of a relationship, which could be an important pathway leading to healthy behavior around HIV/AIDS.MethodsThis paper uses data from 448 heterosexual couples (896 individuals) in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa who completed baseline surveys from 2012 to 2014 as part of a couples-based HIV intervention trial. Using an actor-partner interdependence perspective, we assessed: (1) how both partners' perceptions of power influences their own (i.e., actor effect) and their partner's reports of relationship quality (i.e., partner effect); and (2) whether these associations differed by gender. We examined three constructs related to power (female power, male equitable gender norms, and shared power) and four domains of relationship quality (intimacy, trust, mutually constructive communication, and conflict).ResultsFor actor effects, shared power was strongly and consistently associated with higher relationship quality across all four domains. The effect of shared power on trust, mutually constructive communication, and conflict were stronger for men than women. The findings for female power and male equitable gender norms were more mixed. Female power was positively associated with women's reports of trust and mutually constructive communication, but negatively associated with intimacy. Male equitable gender norms were positively associated with men's reports of mutually constructive communication. For partner effects, male equitable gender norms were positively associated with women's reports of intimacy and negatively associated with women's reports of conflict.ConclusionsResearch and health interventions aiming to improving HIV-related behaviors should consider sources of shared power within couples and potential leverage points for empowerment at the couple level. Efforts solely focused on empowering women should also take the dyadic environment and men's perspectives into account to ensure positive relationship outcomes.

BackgroundInjection drug use is increasingly contributing to the HIV epidemic across sub-Saharan Africa. This paper provides the first descriptive analysis of injection drug use in western Kenya, where HIV prevalence is already highest in the nation at 15.1%.MethodsWe draw on quantitative data from a study of injection drug use in Kisumu, Kenya. We generated descriptive statistics on socio-demographics, sexual characteristics, and drug-related behaviors. Logistic regression models were adjusted for sex to identify correlates of self-reported HIV positive status.ResultsOf 151 participants, mean age was 28.8 years, 84% (n = 127) were male, and overall self-reported HIV prevalence reached 19.4%. Women had greater than four times the odds of being HIV positive relative to men (Odds Ratio [OR] 4.5, CI: 1.7, 11.8, p = .003). Controlling for sex, ever experiencing STI symptoms (Adjusted Odds ratio [AOR] 4.6, 95% CI 1.7, 12.0, p = .002) and sharing needles or syringes due to lack of access (AOR 3.6, 95% CI 1.2, 10.5, p = .02) were significantly associated with HIV positive status. Lower education (AOR 2.3, 95% CI 0.9, 5.6, p=.08), trading sex for drugs (AOR 2.8, 95% CI 0.9, 8.8, p = .08), being injected by a peddler (AOR 2.9, 95% CI 1.0, 8.5, p = .05), and injecting heroin (AOR 2.3, 95% CI 1.0, 5.7, p = .06), were marginally associated with HIV.ConclusionsThis exploratory study identified patterns of unsafe drug injection and concurrent sexual risk in western Kenya, yet few resources are currently available to address addiction or injection-related harm. Expanded research, surveillance, and gender sensitive programming are needed.

Introduction: Amidst unfavorable effects of alcohol and other substances on the course and outcomes of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, this study aimed at identifying patterns of alcohol and substance usage and their association with gender and presence of psychological distress among people living with HIV/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) (PLWHA). Material and methods: Using a cross-sectional survey, questionnaires with socio-demographic variables, Kessler psychological distress (K-10), and the condensed alcohol, smoking, and substance involvement screening test (ASSIST) were administered to PLWHA attending HIV clinic at the State University Teaching Hospital, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria. Lifetime and current substance use as well as levels of risky use of alcohol and other substances were determined, and their relationship with gender and psychological distress were verified using bivariate statistics. Results: Among 297 participants, the majority were females (72.0%), with mean age of 37.49 years (SD = 10.02). Lifetime and current prevalence were alcohol 62.6% and 37.0%; cannabis 6.1% and 2.7%; nicotine 14.8% and 6.1%; and sedatives 43.1% and 15.4%, respectively. Males were more likely to drink alcohol, use cannabis, and smoke cigarettes than their female counterparts (p < 0.001). Those who were current sedatives users were more likely to be experiencing psychological distress (p = 0.023). Conclusions: Despite the negative effect of alcohol on the course and outcomes of HIV infection, a higher proportion of the participants had a history of lifetime and current alcohol and other substance use, with the majority of current substance users being a moderate- to high-risk users. Interventions aimed at reducing excessive substance use are needed to optimize treatment outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An upsurge in the rate of violence against women has an adverse effect on women in South Africa. Sadly, many South African women who are the victims of violent sexual conduct, such as, rape and other forms of violent sexual abuse, have in part contributed to the prevalence of HIV/AIDS infection among women. Of the 7,7 million South African living with HIV/AIDS in 2018, 4,7 million were women, while another 69 000 were among the new infections. They are more vulnerable to HIV infections with 21,17 percent of women living with the disease. Using personal conversations, literature searches and documents for primary and secondary data, this article argues that value orientation that ascribes superiority to men has damaging consequences on the status of women. South African women are exposed to violent habitual actions of men that denigrate their womanhood. The article, therefore, submits that there is a need to reinforce civil society and strengthen the justice system for the protection and promotion of the rights and freedom of women. Aside from this, the government should increase its commitment to the enforcement of requisite legislative frameworks that safeguard the rights and freedom of women, and review punishments for any acts of violence against women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is growing interest in engaging men and boys in health and development programmes targeting the intersection of HIV risk, substance abuse, and violence. Understanding the conceptualisations of masculinities or masculine identities that shape both behaviours and opportunities for intervention is central to advancing the global agenda to engage men in health and development interventions. This paper examines an intervention using soccer and job training to engage and deliver activities for HIV prevention, substance abuse, and gender-based violence in a South African township. A literature review provides theoretical, historical and social context for the intersection of gender, masculinity, soccer, violence, and sexual relationships. Qualitative data from in-depth interviews and focus groups is analysed using theoretical and contextual frames to elucidate the negotiation of shifting, contradictory, and conflicting masculine roles. Results highlight how changing risky, normative behaviours among young men is a negotiated process entailing men's relationships with women and with other men.

Introduction: Few studies have systematically described population‐level differences comparing men and women across the continuum of routine HIV care. This study quantifies differentials in HIV care, treatment and mortality outcomes for men and women over time in South Africa. Methods: We analysed population‐wide linked anonymized data, including vital registration linkage, for the Western Cape Province, from the time of first CD4 count. Three antiretroviral therapy guideline eligibility periods were defined: 1 January 2008 to 31 July 2011 (CD4 cell count <200 cells/µL), 1 August 2011 to 31 December 2014 (<350 cells/µL), 1 January 2015 to 31 August 2016 (<500 cells/µL). We estimated care uptake based on service attendance, and modelled associations for men and women with ART initiation and overall, pre‐ART and ART mortality. Separate Cox proportional hazard models were built for each outcome and eligibility period, adjusted for tuberculosis, pregnancy, CD4 count and age. Results: Adult men made up 49% of the population and constituted 37% of those living with HIV. In 2009, 46% of men living with HIV attended health services, rising to 67% by 2015 compared to 54% and 77% of women respectively. Men contributed <35% of all CD4 cell counts over 10 years and presented with more advanced disease (39% of all first presentation CD4 cell counts from men were <200 cells/µL compared to 25% in women). ART access was lower in men compared to women (AHR 0.79 (0.77 to 0.80) summarized for Period 2) over the entire study). Mortality was greater in men irrespective of ART (AHR 1.08 (1.01 to 1.16) Period 3) and after ART start (AHR 1.15 (1.05 to 1.20) Period 3) with mortality differences decreasing over time. Conclusions: Compared to women, men presented with more advanced disease, were less likely to attend health care services annually, were less likely to initiate ART and had higher mortality overall and while receiving ART care. People living with HIV were more likely to initiate ART if they had acute reasons to access healthcare beyond HIV, such as being pregnant or being co‐infected with tuberculosis. Our findings point to missed opportunities for improving access to and outcomes from interventions for men along the entire HIV cascade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public health researchers repeatedly represent women as a group vulnerable to ill health. This has been particularly true in the field of HIV research, where women are disproportionately affected by HIV in terms of disease burden and the social effects of the epidemic. Although women have been the focus of many prevention and treatment programs, structural barriers to implementation of these targeted programs persist. In this article we explore how high HIV-burden communities in South Africa and Zambia engage with the concepts of "woman" and "HIV risk". The data are drawn from participatory storytelling activities completed with 604 participants across 78 group discussions between December 2012 and May 2013. During discussions we found that participants made use of the core archetypal caricatures of "goodness," "badness," and "vulnerability" when describing women's HIV risk. Community members shifted between these categories in their characterizations of women, as they acknowledged the multiple roles women play, internalized different stories about women, and sometimes shifted register in the same stories. Findings suggest that health implementers, in consultation with community members, should consider the multiple positions women occupy and how this impacts the wider community's understandings of women and "risk". This approach of taking on board community understandings of the complexity of HIV risk can inform the design and implementation of HIV prevention and care programs by rendering programs more focused and in-line with community needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Este artículo es una reflexión sobre la problemática que viven las mujeres ante el VIH/SIDA. A través de estadísticas mundiales y nacionales que dan cuenta del incremento de la epidemia en las mujeres, se hace evidente la necesidad de atender el problema. Se argumenta cómo la estructura y relaciones de género favorecen la vulnerabilidad de las mujeres, y cómo la vulnerabilidad y el riesgo de infección se incrementan para muchas mujeres al transitar por diversas situaciones específicas, como la migración, la precariedad de empleo y la violencia doméstica, entre otras. Se enuncian los principales obstáculos que enfrentan las mujeres para hacer socialmente visible su situación y necesidades, así como la falta de poder para encarar de manera más eficaz su problemática. Se habla de las iniciativas de la sociedad civil organizada y de las estrategias gubernamentales que se han implantado, así como de sus principales logros, carencias, necesidades y retos. Finalmente, a manera de conclusión y recomendación, se destaca la necesidad de establecer y evaluar programas y políticas de prevención y atención bajo una perspectiva de género y de derechos humanos, que permita una mayor conciencia y mejores respuestas al problema de las mujeres frente al VIH/SIDA.This paper presents some thoughts on the problems endured by women facing HIV/AIDS. World and nationwide statistics show an upward trend of the epidemic among women, calling for the need to address this problem. A case is made for the way in which gender structure and relations facilitate the vulnerability of women to this disease, increasing their risk of infection related with specific factors like migration, employment unsafe conditions, and domestic violence, among others. Emphasis is made on the main obstacles faced by women to flag their concerns and needs in society, as well as on their lack of empowerment to cope effectively with their problems. Some initiatives advanced by the organized civil society and governmental strategies are presented, including accomplishments, deficiencies, needs, and challenges. Finally, conclusions and recommendations are given, highlighting the need to establish and evaluate preventative programs and policies from a gender and human rights perspective, to promote a greater awareness and improved responses to the problems imposed on women by the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Este estudio es parte de la línea Género y Prevención de un Programa de Investigación sobre VIH/SIDA. Desde un enfoque político y relacional esta línea indaga en las relaciones, los roles y las identidades de género en el contexto de la vida cotidiana. Este trabajo analiza la iniciación sexual y algunas dimensiones de las prácticas sexuales de los jóvenes, incluyendo el cuidado sexual y su vinculación con las representaciones sobre el VIH/SIDA. Partimos de una visión crítica a las construcciones universalistas y naturalizadoras de la juventud y los jóvenes para focalizar en los modos cómo los jóvenes construyen sus prácticas y significaciones en el marco de sus contextos de interacción cotidianos. Proponemos que las posibilidades de prevención del VIH/SIDA dependen de un complejo en el que juegan las identidades y roles de género, las modalidades de las relaciones de poder y las asimetrías sociales en el acceso y el control de recursos materiales y simbólicos. Los datos provienen de un estudio etnográfico entre mujeres y varones jóvenes de 15 a 28 años de sectores populares, residentes en el cordón sur de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires.This study is part of a line of research on Gender and Prevention in a research program on the social construction of HIV/AIDS. From a political and relational approach this line researches in gender relations, roles and identities in the context of the daily life. This paper analyses sexual initiation and some dimensions of the sexual practices of young people, including their sexual care and social representations related with AIDS. From a critical point of departure to the universalist and naturalized constructions of youth and young people we focus on how practices and meanings are constructed by young people in particular contexts of interaction. We propose that self sexual care and prevention of HIV/AIDS depend on a complex in which play gender identities and roles of sort, the modalities of power relations and social asymmetries in the access and control of material and symbolic resources. The data come from an ethnographic study between low-income young people, women and men from 15 to 28 years old in the southern area of the City of Buenos Aires.

Washington, DC has among the highest HIV/AIDS rates in the US. Gender differences among injection drug users (IDUs) may be associated with adoption of prevention opportunities including needle exchange programs, HIV testing, psychosocial support, and prevention programming. National HIV Behavioral Surveillance data on current IDUs aged ≥18 were collected from 8/09 to 11/09 via respondent-driven sampling in Washington, DC. HIV status was assessed using oral OraQuick with Western Blot confirmation. Weighted estimates were derived using RDSAT. Stata was used to characterize the sample and differences between male and female IDU, using uni-, bi-, and multivariable methods. Factors associated with HIV risk differed between men and women. Men were more likely than women to have had a history of incarceration (86.6 % vs. 66.8 %, p < 0.01). Women were more likely than men to have depressive symptoms (73.9 % vs. 47.4 %, p < 0.01), to have been physically or emotionally abused (66.1 % vs. 16.1 %, p < 0.0001), to report childhood sexual abuse (42.7 % vs. 4.7 %, p < 0.0001), and pressured or forced to have sex (62.8 % vs. 4.0 %, p < 0.0001); each of these differences was significant in the multivariable analysis. Despite a decreasing HIV/AIDS epidemic among IDU, there remain significant gender differences with women experiencing multiple threats to psychosocial health, which may in turn affect HIV testing, access, care, and drug use. Diverging needs by gender are critical to consider when implementing HIV prevention strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of African Journal of Reproductive Health is the property of Women's Health & Action Research Centre and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Gender based violence, including violence by an intimate partner, is a major global human rights and public health problem, with important connections with HIV risk. Indeed, the elimination of sexual and gender based violence is a core pillar of HIV prevention for UNAIDS. Integrated strategies to address the gender norms, relations and inequities that underlie both violence against women and HIV/AIDS are needed. However there is limited evidence about the potential impact of different intervention models. This protocol describes the SASA! Study: an evaluation of a community mobilisation intervention to prevent violence against women and reduce HIV/AIDS risk in Kampala, Uganda .Methods/Design: The SASA! Study is a pair-matched cluster randomised controlled trial being conducted in eight communities in Kampala. It is designed to assess the community-level impact of the SASA! intervention on the following six primary outcomes: attitudes towards the acceptability of violence against women and the acceptability of a woman refusing sex (among male and female community members); past year experience of physical intimate partner violence and sexual intimate partner violence (among females); community responses to women experiencing violence (among women reporting past year physical/sexual partner violence); and past year concurrency of sexual partners (among males). 1583 women and men (aged 18-49 years) were surveyed in intervention and control communities prior to intervention implementation in 2007/8. A follow-up cross-sectional survey of community members will take place in 2012. The primary analysis will be an adjusted cluster-level intention to treat analysis, comparing outcomes in intervention and control communities at follow-up. Complementary monitoring and evaluation and qualitative research will be used to explore and describe the process of intervention implementation and the pathways through which change is achieved. Discussion: This is one of few cluster randomised trials globally to assess the impact of a gender-focused community mobilisation intervention. The multi-disciplinary research approach will enable us to address questions of intervention impact and mechanisms of action, as well as its feasibility, acceptability and transferability to other contexts. The results will be of importance to researchers, policy makers and those working on the front line to prevent violence against women and HIV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Adolescent girls are an overlooked group within conflict-affected populations and their sexual health needs are often neglected. Girls are disproportionately at risk of HIV and other STIs in times of conflict, however the lack of recognition of their unique sexual health needs has resulted in a dearth of distinctive HIV protection and prevention responses. Departing from the recognition of a paucity of literature on the distinct vulnerabilities of girls in time of conflict, this study sought to deepen the knowledge base on this issue by qualitatively exploring the sexual vulnerabilities of adolescent girls surviving abduction and displacement in Northern Uganda. Methods: Over a ten-month period between 2004-2005, at the height of the Lord's Resistance Army insurgency in Northern Uganda, 116 in-depth interviews and 16 focus group discussions were held with adolescent girls and adult women living in three displacement camps in Gulu district, Northern Uganda. The data was transcribed and key themes and common issues were identified. Once all data was coded the ethnographic software programme ATLAS was used to compare and contrast themes and categories generated in the in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Results: Our results demonstrated the erosion of traditional Acholi mentoring and belief systems that had previously served to protect adolescent girls' sexuality. This disintegration combined with: the collapse of livelihoods; being left in camps unsupervised and idle during the day; commuting within camp perimeters at night away from the family hut to sleep in more central locations due to privacy and insecurity issues, and; inadequate access to appropriate sexual health information and services, all contribute to adolescent girls' heightened sexual vulnerability and subsequent enhanced risk for HIV/AIDS in times of conflict. Conclusions: Conflict prevention planners, resettlement programme developers, and policy-makers need to recognize adolescent girls affected by armed conflict as having distinctive needs, which require distinctive responses. More adaptive and sustainable gender-sensitive reproductive health strategies and HIV prevention initiatives for displaced adolescent girls in conflict settings must be developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

HIV/AIDS is one of the biggest problems that has puzzled the medical world, this is because AIDS is life threatening and as of present there is no cure for the disease. The first AIDS case in Nigeria was reported in 1986. Since then, the epidemic has steadily grown. Estimates show the number of people living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria in 2003 to be between 3.2 and 3.8 million (2003 HIV Sentinel Survey), and the age group 20-24 years having the highest national prevalence (5.6%). The active labour force is greatly affected and this has enormous consequences for the future generation. The present research is aimed at studying the awareness of HIV/AIDS among selected students in tertiary institutions in Nigeria. Specifically, the research investigated the role of traditional and cultural societal norms, on the behavioural patterns of youths in the tertiary institutions. The target population represent the age group in the country which have the highest national prevalence rate. This target group also constitute those that practice risky behaviour, drug addiction and premarital sex, which can increase the chances of the increase of HIV infection. The risk of HIV/AIDS infections among youths in the tertiary Institutions has increased in recent years. The sample consisted of 162 males and 162 females, between the ages of 20 - 24 in 3 Tertiary Institutions. The results of the survey indicate that socio-economic factors, culture and tradition all play a significant role in the differences between female and male perceptions of the HIV/AIDS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses a group of Gogodala Christian women in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea who are referred to as 'Warrior women' and who pray, sing and call upon the Holy Spirit to cleanse their own bodies and 'turn their eyes', so that they are able to see those who threaten the health and well-being of the wider community. These women have focused primarily on bringing male practitioners of magic -- iwai dala -- shadowy and powerful men who operate covertly and away from the gaze of others, out into the open. Whilst this has been happening for many years, the spread of HIV and AIDS into the area, fuelled by what many in the area believe is the rise of unrestrained female and male sexuality and the waning of Christian practice and principles, has meant that those perceived to bring harm to the community through their sexual behaviour have become recent targets for Warrior women. HIV/AIDS, referred to in Gogodala as melesene bininapa gite tila gi -- the 'sickness without medicine' -- is understood as a hidden sickness, one that makes its way through the community without trace until people become visibly ill. Warrior women seek to make both AIDS and those who, through their behaviour, encourage or enable its spread more visible. In the process, however, a small number of them are overcome by the Holy Spirit, so much so that they become daeledaelenapa -- mad -- their behaviour increasingly characterised by childishness and uncontrolled sexuality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Young people constitute a priority for sexual health research, policy and planning. Many studies, however, regard youth as a homogeneous group defined by developmental stages and their problems as inherent rather than factors resulting from structural vulnerability. Ethnographic data from this study provided strong evidence of the inappropriateness, in prevention interventions, of the concept of ‘young people’ as a group defined only by age and gender. When incorporating social resources and support into the analysis, specific segments of youth with diverse sexual practices and health seeking behaviours emerge. Thus, although most young people in urban areas show a similar level of HIV/STI knowledge, their exposure to risk varies according to their living conditions. Two population segments – “street guys” and “fast girls” – identified as vulnerable for sexual risk, are characterized. Both groups hang out on the streets, and most are involved in using alcohol and drugs, and/or practicing transactional sex. This study provided evidence for the need of various approaches according to level of poverty and social vulnerability in order to develop more effective HIV/AIDS and STI prevention programs to meet the needs of young men and women in low-income areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of African Journal of Reproductive Health is the property of Women's Health & Action Research Centre and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)