Abstract:
The primary goal of this study was to examine how HIV positive women attending
the Kericho County Referral Hospital Comprehensive Care Centre respond to
domestic abuse. Available data indicate that 55% of women and 20% of men
living with HIV infection experience intimate partner violence (IPV) and that 24%
of women experience abuse by their partners after disclosing their HIV
serostatus. IPV increases the risk of HIV acquisition and often interferes with
victims' engagement in and adherence to HIV care. A descriptive cross-sectional
research design was utilized. Between May and July 2013, 230 HIV positive
women over the age of 15 were systematically sampled. To acquire qualitative
and quantitative data, interview schedules and focus group discussions were
employed. To determine frequencies and themes, content analysis was
performed, and SPSS 20.0 and Microsoft Excel were used to enter and evaluate
the data. Intimate partner violence (IPV) was experienced by 156 of the 230
women questioned. According to the survey, physical abuse (57.8%) was the
most prevalent type of IPV, while sexual abuse (4.9%) was the least common.
Furthermore, 25.6% of the women interviewed reported an increase in violence
after being diagnosed with HIV. The majority of abused individuals (45.5%) left
and talked to a friend (21.2%) in response to IPV. As a result, HIV and IPV are
syndemic concerns that must be addressed in order for an HIV program to be
successful. IPV was shown to have a substantial impact on HIV positive women
attending Kericho District Hospital (KDH). There is a pressing requirement for
IPV screening and management techniques to be included into the HIV
prevention program at KDH, as well as IPV training for health practitioners. The
CCC's health treatment should include trauma-informed care.
