Intimate Partner Violence and HIV Risk Factors

Intimate partner violence is a pervasive violation of human rights that affects an estimated one-third of women worldwide and also occurs among men in same-sex partnerships. It encompasses physical, sexual, emotional and economic abuse and can both fuel and be fuelled by HIV risk through multiple pathways. Violence undermines sexual autonomy, restricts condom negotiation and can precipitate coercive sexual encounters that heighten the likelihood of HIV acquisition. Survivors often experience depression, anxiety, substance misuse and economic dependence, which further compromise adherence to antiretroviral therapy and engagement in prevention services. Disclosure of HIV positive status to a partner may trigger abuse, leading to delayed testing, poor linkage to care and suboptimal adherence. Conversely, living with HIV can expose individuals to stigma and violence across home, community and health-care settings. Structural drivers such as poverty, gender inequality and inequitable power relations within intimate relationships shape this syndemic interplay. Addressing intimate partner violence within HIV programmes is thus critical to reducing transmission, improving health outcomes and promoting gender equity. Integrating routine screening for violence, trauma-informed counselling and social support into HIV testing and treatment services can strengthen prevention and care across diverse settings.

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Intimate Partner Violence and HIV Risk Factors publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in intimate partner violence and hiv risk factors across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Intimate partner violence (IPV): Physical, sexual, emotional or economic abuse perpetrated by a current or former intimate partner.

Antiretroviral therapy (ART): Combination of medications that suppress HIV replication to prevent disease progression and reduce transmission.

HIV serostatus disclosure: The process of revealing one’s HIV test result to another person, often a sexual or intimate partner.

Vertical transmission: The passage of HIV from mother to child during pregnancy, labour, delivery or breastfeeding.

Syndemic: Co-occurring epidemics or adverse conditions that interact synergistically to exacerbate health risks and outcomes.

References

1. Sexual violence and antiretroviral adherence among women of reproductive age in African population‐based surveys: the moderating role of the perinatal phase. Journal of the International AIDS Society (2023).
2. Power and poverty: A participatory study on the complexities of HIV and intimate partner violence in an informal urban settlement in Nairobi, Kenya. Social Science & Medicine (2023).
3. Intimate partner violence and its associations among HIV-infected MSM with new drug abuse in Jinan, China. BMC Public Health (2023).