Widespread Rape Does Not Directly Appear to Increase the Overall HIV Prevalence in Conflict-affected Countries: So Now What?

Citation:

Anema, Aranka, Michel R Joffres, Edward Mills, and Paul B. Spiegel. 2008. “Widespread Rape Does Not Directly Appear to Increase the Overall HIV Prevalence in Conflict-Affected Countries: So Now What?” Emerging Themes in Epidemiology 5 (1): 1–7. doi:10.1186/1742-7622-5-11.

Authors: Aranka Anema, Michel R Joffres, Edward Mills, Paul B. Spiegel

Abstract:

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is severely affected by HIV/AIDS and conflict. Sexual violence as a weapon of war has been associated with concerns about heightened HIV incidence among women. Widespread rape by combatants has been documented in Burundi, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Sudan and Uganda. To examine the assertion that widespread rape may not directly increase HIV prevalence at the population level, we built a model to determine the potential impact of varying scenarios of widespread rape on HIV prevalence in the above seven African countries.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Gender, Women, Health, HIV/AIDS, Post-Conflict, Sexual Violence, Rape Regions: Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, West Africa Countries: Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Uganda

Year: 2008