South Africa has among the
highest rates of forced sex worldwide, and alcohol use has consistently been
associated with risk of forced sex in South Africa. However, methodological
challenges affect the accuracy of forced sex measurements.
This study explored
the assessment of forced sex among South African women attending
alcohol-serving venues and identified factors associated with reporting recent
forced sex. Women (n = 785) were recruited from 12 alcohol-serving venues in a
peri-urban township in Cape Town. Brief self-administered surveys included
questions about lifetime and recent experiences of forced sex. Surveys included
a single question about forced sex and detailed questions about sex by physical
force, threats, verbal persuasion, trickery, and spiked drinks. We first
compared the single question about forced sex to a composite variable of forced
sex as unwanted sex by physical force, threats, or spiked drinks. We then
examined potential predictors of recent forced sex (demographics, drinking
behavior, relationship to the venue, abuse experiences).
The single question
about forced sex had low sensitivity (0.38); more than half of the respondents
who reported on the detailed questions that they had experienced forced sex by
physical force, threats, or spiked drinks reported on the single question item
that they had not experienced forced sex. Using our composite variable, 18.6%
of women reported lifetime and 10.8% reported recent experiences of forced sex.
In our adjusted logistic regression model, recent forced sex using the
composite variable was significantly associated with hazardous drinking (OR =
1.92), living farther from the venue (OR = 1.81), recent intimate partner
violence (OR = 2.53), and a history of childhood sexual abuse (OR = 4.35).
The
findings support the need for additional work to refine the assessment of
forced sex. Efforts to prevent forced sex should target alcohol-serving venues,
where norms and behaviors may present particular risks for women who frequent
these settings.
Full article at: http://goo.gl/HDtzKP
By: Melissa H. Watt,1 Kathleen J. Sikkema,1 Laurie Abler,1 Jennifer Velloza,1 Lisa A. Eaton,2 Seth C. Kalichman,2 Donald Skinner,3 and Desiree Pieterse3
1Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
2University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA
3Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South
Africa
Correspondence: Melissa Watt, PhD, Duke University, Duke
Global Health Institute, Duke Box 90519, Durham, NC 27708, Tel: 919-613-6126,Email: ude.ekud@ttaw.assilem
Published
online 2014 Jun 30. doi: 10.1177/0886260514540807
More at: https://twitter.com/hiv
insight
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