Domestic violence and forced sex among the urban poor in South India: implications for HIV prevention.
This article examined the prevalence of physical and sexual violence among 1,974 married women from 40 low-income communities in Chennai, India. The authors found a 99% and 75% lifetime prevalence of physical abuse and forced sex, respectively, whereas 65% of women experienced more than five episodes of physical abuse in the 3 months preceding the survey. Factors associated with violence after multivariate adjustment included elementary/middle school education and variables suggesting economic insecurity. These domestic violence rates exceed those in prior Indian reports, suggesting women in slums may be at increased risk for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.
Solomon
Suniti
S
YR Gaitonde Centre for AIDS Research and Education, Chennai, India.
Subbaraman
Ramnath
R
Solomon
Sunil S
SS
Srikrishnan
Aylur K
AK
Johnson
Sethulakshmi C
SC
Vasudevan
C K
CK
Anand
Santhanam
S
Ganesh
Aylur K
AK
Celentano
David D
DD
D000328:Adult; D018585:Battered Women / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011203:Poverty / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011204:Poverty Areas; D015995:Prevalence; D011902:Rape / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018454:Spouses / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*