Guns and gender-based violence in South Africa.

The political economy of sexual violence in post-apartheid South Africa

South Africa has the worst known figures for gender-based violence for a country not at war. At least one in three South African women will be raped in their lifetime. The rates of sexual violence against women and children, as well as the signal failure of the criminal justice and health systems to curtail the crisis, suggest an unacknowledged gender civil war. Yet narratives about rape contin...

Perceptions of gender-based violence among South African youth: implications for health promotion interventions.

Gender-based violence is a widespread problem in South Africa. Past structural inequities have created a climate conducive to violence against women. As an initial step toward developing a health promotion program, we conducted exploratory formative research to examine the barriers that affect the health and well-being of youth. Fourteen focus groups (nine with girls and five with boys) were co...

The dual burden of gender-based violence and HIV in adolescent girls and young women in South Africa.

Prevalence and patterns of gender-based violence and revictimization among women attending antenatal clinics in Soweto, South Africa.

Gender-based violence is a key health risk for women globally and in South Africa. The authors analyzed data from 1,395 interviews with women attending antenatal clinics in Soweto, South Africa, between November 2001 and April 2002 to estimate the prevalence of physical/sexual partner violence (55.5%), adult sexual assault by nonpartners (7.9%), child sexual assault (8.0%), and forced first int...

Correlates of HIV testing among abused women in South Africa.

Gender-based violence increases a woman's risk for HIV but little is known about her decision to get tested. We interviewed 97 women seeking abuse-related services from a nongovernmental organization (NGO) in Johannesburg, South Africa. Forty-six women (47%) had been tested for HIV. Caring for children (odds ratio [OR] = 0.27, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [0.07, 1.00]) and conversing with par...