Gender-based violence and sexual and reproductive health among low-income youth in three Brazilian cities

Abstract

In this article, we investigate how gender-based violence (GBV) affects the sexual and reproductive health of impoverished adolescents and young adults. We analyse data from a 2011 survey of 450 young women and 300 young men aged 15-29, living in poor neighbourhoods of three middle-sized cities in Minas Gerais, Brazil. In this survey we used a closed-ended questionnaire to collect data from 150 women and 100 men in each city. Our main goal was to explore the relationship between GBV and young women's autonomy in relation to their sexuality, using indicators appropriate to Brazil. Our results showed a decreased prevalence of condom use at first intercourse and an increased prevalence of teenage pregnancies among young women who were in a relationship with a controlling and violent partner. Lower condom use was observed mostly among young men who acknowledged being violent and controlling towards a partner and they also were more likely to have made a partner pregnant as teenagers themselves. We conclude that some variables utilized here as indicators of control and violence from a partner and of young women's autonomy can help us to understand how GBV inside relationships affects the reproductive and sexual health of young men and women, and how empowering them can reduce their susceptibility to unwanted pregnancies and HIV and other STI infections.

Sexual and Reproductive Health Outcomes of Violence Against Women and Girls in Lower-Income Countries: A Review of Reviews

“…Existing research may perpetuate biases and lack relevance to cultural and economic environments in LMICs, where 89% of the world's 600 million adolescent girls and young-adult women live (UNFPA, 2014a). Predominantly, research on GBV in LMICs has focused on adult women in urban environments (e.g., Chacham, Simao, & Caetano, 2016; CONTACT Kathryn M. Yount kyount@emory.edu Asa Griggs Candler Chair of Global Health | Professor of Global Health and Sociology, Hubert Department of Global Health and Department of Sociology, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road, NE, Atlanta, GA 30322…”

Adolescent birth rates and the urban social environment in 363 Latin American cities

“…Previous research on the association between contextual violence and ABR has primarily focused on armed conflict or intimate partner violence as risk factors for adolescent risk behaviours, but the relationship between contextual violence and ABR unrelated to those situations remains largely unexplored. 31 32 Repeated exposure to community violence is associated with poor health outcomes and adolescent risk behaviours. 33 Homicide rates are considered a reliable measure of social violence and have been linked to poverty, inequality, impunity, corruption and the presence of organised crime in HIC and LMIC.…”

“…A novel finding of this study is the association of homicide rates with ABR, where a 1 SD higher city homicide rates was associated with a 9% higher subcity ABR in the fully adjusted model. Previous research on the association between contextual violence and ABR has primarily focused on armed conflict or intimate partner violence as risk factors for adolescent risk behaviours, but the relationship between contextual violence and ABR unrelated to those situations remains largely unexplored 31 32. Repeated exposure to community violence is associated with poor health outcomes and adolescent risk behaviours 33.…”

Aggression and violence in adolescents in the iberoamerican context, a systematic review

“…In social relations, the goal was to analyze social support in terms of different social and cultural issues (60). In gender vulnerability, gender violence is analyzed in terms of how it affects women's lives (61). Finally, the substance use category aimed to study and identify the profiles and relationships between violence and the consumption of alcohol and substances (19).…”