426Awareness and Response to Intimate Partner Violence in WLWHA and HIV negative women in Umuahia

Abstract

Background Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is the range of sexually, psychologically and physically coercive acts used against adult and adolescent women by a current or former male partner. IPV is the commonest form of violence against women and one of the most pervasive human rights abuses against women. The UN reported that 1 in 3 women had experienced physical/sexual violence at some point in their lives and 2 in 3 victims of intimate partner homicide are women. This study is aimed at determining the level of awareness and responses to abuse by WLWHA and HIV negative women in Umuahia, Nigeria. Methods A comparative cross-sectional study involving 200 WLWHA and 200 HIV negative women in Umuahia using systematic random sampling method. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was deployed for data collection. Data analysis was done using IBM SPSS. Results The age range of WLWHA respondents was 23-70 years while that of HIV negative women was 18-70 years. Awareness on IPV was higher amongst HIV negative women (77%) compared to WLWHA respondents (52.5%). Among those who suffered any form of IPV, majority of the WLWHA (46.1%) and HIV negative women (58.9%) did nothing while the least common response was separating permanently (3.5% as against 6.8%). Conclusion The awareness and response to IPV especially amongst WLWHA is sub-optimal. Mass awareness campaigns amongst all women are advocated for to help combat this problem. Keywords Intimate Partner Violence, Awareness, Response.