PERCEPTIONS AND HELP-SEEKING BEHAVIOUR ON INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE AMONG WOMEN LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS IN ADEOYO MATERNITY HOSPITAL IBADAN, NIGERIA

Abstract

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner. Intimate partner violence among Women Living With HIV/AIDS (WLWHA) has been associated with acute injuries, substance use, and suicide. Although several studies have documented experience of IPV among WLWHA, the perceptions and help seeking behavior on IPV by the women has not been fully investigated. Therefore this study was designed to determine the perceptions and document the help seeking behavior on IPV among WLWHA in Adeoyo Maternity Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria. The study was descriptive cross-sectional in design and a systematic random sampling was used to select 418 consenting respondents from the hospital. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to elicit information on perceptions and help seeking behaviour on IPV. Using a 14-point perception scale, scores >7 were categorised as positive; respondents who did not support IPV were regarded as having positive perceptions towards IPV. Twelve in-depth interviews were conducted among the women who had experienced IPV to obtain qualitative data. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics and Chi-square test at p=0.05, while qualitative data were analysed using the thematic approach. Age of respondents was 34.6 ± 7.3 years and 55.0% were in monogamous marriage. Seventy percent of the respondents experienced physical violence, 69.0% experienced emotional violence while 63.0% experienced sexual violence in the last three months preceding the study. The prevalence of IPV among women living with HIV/AID who had experienced at least one type of IPV was 68.0%. Among those who had experienced IPV, 53.3% had injuries including limb fractures, 36.0% had sexually transmitted infections, 27.8% suffered emotional trauma while 11.5% had an unintended pregnancy. Major reasons by men perpetrated IPV were poverty (59.3%), unfaithfulness (15.6%) and nature of men (11.0%). Most (84.4%) disagreed that IPV is a normal part of relationship, 20.3% agreed that IPV was common among men, while majority (79.7%) disagreed that IPV was common in all men. Most (86.6%) of the respondents agreed that IPV increases the risk of contracting HIV. Although most of the respondents (80.0%;) did not know of any support group, 12.0% sought help from relatives and the remaining (8.0%) sought help from religious institutions. At the instance of experience of IPV, 81.6% of the respondents kept to themselves and remained moody, 14.4% reported to family members while few (4.0%) reported they fought back. Respondents' perception was 11.8±3.3 as 87.8% had positive perceptions towards IPV. There were no significant associations between types of marriage and perceptions towards IPV. The respondents strongly agreed that IPV increases the risk of contracting HIV and most did not know any social support groups. Most women living with HIV/AIDS attending Adeoyo Maternity Hospital had positive perceptions towards intimate partner violence but lacked adequate information on social support. There is a need to create awareness in the community and programmes targeted at religious leaders to provide support for the survivors.