Coercive sex in rural Uganda: Prevalence and associated risk factors
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Date
2004
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Social Science & Medicine
Abstract
Despite growing recognition of the problem, relatively little is known about the issue of coercive sex in developing
countries. This study presents findings from a community-based survey of 4279 reproductive-aged women in current
partnerships in the Rakai District of Uganda carried out in 1998–99. One in four women in our study report having
experienced coercive sex with their current male partner, with most women reporting its occasional occurrence. In a
regression analysis of risk factors for coercive sex, conventional socio-demographic characteristics emerged as largely
unpredictive of the risk of coercive sex. Behavioral risk factors—most notably, younger age of women at first
intercourse and alcohol consumption before sex by the male partner—were strongly and positively related to the risk of
coercive sex. Coercive sex was also strongly related to perceptions of the male partner’s HIV risk, with women who
perceived their partner to be at highest risk experiencing almost three times the risk of coercive sex relative to low risk
partnerships. Supplemental analysis of 1-year longitudinal data provides additional support for the hypothesis that
coercive sex may frequently be a consequence of women’s perceptions of increased HIV risk for their male partner. The
findings of this study are discussed in terms of the need for sexual violence prevention programs more generally in
settings such as Uganda, and in terms of the possible importance of incorporating issues of sexual and physical violence
within current HIV prevention programs.
Description
Keywords
Coercive sex, HIV prevention programs
Citation
Koenig, M. A., Lutalo, T., Zhao, F., Nalugoda, F., Kiwanuka, N., Wabwire-Mangen, F., ... & Gray, R. (2004). Coercive sex in rural Uganda: prevalence and associated risk factors. Social Science & Medicine, 58(4), 787-798.10.1016/S0277-9536(03)00244-2