428Prevalence and forms of Intimate Partner Violence in WLWHA and HIV negative women in Umuahia

Background Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is the range of sexually, psychologically and physically coercive acts used against adult and adolescent women by a current or former male partner. IPV is the commonest form of violence against women and one of the most pervasive human rights abuses against women. The UN reported that 1 in 3 women had experienced physical/sexual violence at some point in their lives and 2 in 3 victims of intimate partner homicide are women. This study is aimed at determining the prevalence and forms of IPV affecting WLWHA and HIV negative women in Umuahia, Nigeria. Methods A comparative cross-sectional study involving 200 WLWHA and 200 HIV negative women in Umuahia using systematic random sampling method. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was deployed for data collection. Data analysis was done using IBM SPSS. Results A total of 115 (57.5%) WLWHA compared to 73 (36.5%) of the HIV negative women had suffered from any form of IPV. Furthermore, a higher proportion of WLWHA suffered emotional (50.0%), physical (39.0%) and sexual (28.5%) IPV, compared to 31.5%, 17.5% and 12.0% respectively for HIV negative women. Conclusion IPV occurs in both groups of women but much higher in WLWHA. Primary prevention interventions aimed at prevention and reduction should be instituted especially amongst WLWHA. Health care settings should be equipped to ensure a comprehensive response whenever IPV is detected. Keywords Intimate Partner Violence, Prevalence, Forms.