Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011;6(9):e24256.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0024256. Epub 2011 Sep 14.

The relationship between intimate partner violence, rape and HIV amongst South African men: a cross-sectional study

Rachel Jewkes  1 , Yandisa Sikweyiya, Robert Morrell, Kristin Dunkle
Affiliations

The relationship between intimate partner violence, rape and HIV amongst South African men: a cross-sectional study

Rachel Jewkes et al. PLoS One. 2011.

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the associations between intimate partner violence, rape and HIV among South African men.

Design: Cross-sectional study involving a randomly-selected sample of men.

Methods: We tested hypotheses that perpetration of physical intimate partner violence and rape were associated with prevalent HIV infections in a cross-sectional household study of 1229 South African men aged 18-49. Violence perpetration was elicited in response to a questionnaire administered using an Audio-enhanced Personal Digital Assistant and blood samples were tested for HIV. A multivariable logistic regression model was built to identify factors associated with HIV.

Results: 18.3% of men had HIV. 29.6% (358/1211) of men disclosed rape perpetration, 5.2% (63/1208) rape in the past year and 30.7% (362/1180) of had been physically violent towards an intimate partner more than once. Overall rape perpetration was not associated with HIV. The model of factors associated with having HIV showed men under 25 years who had been physically violent towards partners were more likely to have HIV than men under 25 who had not (aOR 2.08 95% CI 1.07-4.06, p = 0.03). We failed to detect any association in older men.

Conclusions: Perpetration of physical IPV is associated with HIV sero-prevalence in young men, after adjusting for other risk factors. This contributes to our understanding of why women who experience violence have a higher HIV prevalence. Rape perpetration was not associated, but the HIV prevalence among men who had raped was very high. HIV prevention in young men must seek to change ideals of masculinity in which male partner violence is rooted.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Age-specific HIV prevalence by perpetration of rape or physical intimate partner violence.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Joint Action for Results. UNAIDS Outcome Framework 2009–2011. Geneva: UNAIDS; 2009.
    1. Jewkes RK, Dunkle K, Nduna M, Shai N. Intimate partner violence, relationship gender power inequity, and incidence of HIV infection in young women in South Africa: a cohort study. The Lancet. 2010;367:41–48. - PubMed
    1. Gilbert L, El-Bassel N, Schilling RF, Wada T, Bennet B. Partner Violence and Sexual HIV Risk Behaviors Among Women in Methadone Treatment. AIDS and Behav. 2000;4:261–269.
    1. Decker MR, Seage GR, 3rd, Hemenway D, Raj A, Saggurti N, et al. Intimate partner violence functions as both a risk marker and risk factor for women's HIV infection: findings from Indian husband-wife dyads. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2009;51(5):593–600. - PMC - PubMed
    1. van der Straten A, King R, Grinstead O, Vittinghoff E, Serufilira A, et al. Sexual coercion, physical violence, and HIV infection among women in steady relationships in Kigali, Rwanda. AIDS and Behavior. 1998;2(1):61–73.

Publication types