Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. We examine the prevalence of physical and sexual violence among 1, married women from 40 low-income communities in Chennai, India. These domestic violence rates exceed those in prior Indian reports, suggesting women in slums may be at increased risk for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. Domestic violence is a major public health issue worldwide Heise et al. It may also be a crucial component of gender inequality accelerating the spread of HIV among women in developing countries Farmer et al.
Numerous studies from both developing and developed countries have shown that women with histories of physical abuse, sexual coercion, and rape have higher rates of HIV Dunkle et al. The few available estimates in urban settings Jeyaseelan et al. Also, while most prior studies evaluate rates of physical abuse, few capture data regarding sexual violence in the household Koenig et al.
This paper reports the prevalence of various forms of domestic violence, attitudes of women towards such violence, and factors associated with its occurrence among slum dwellers in Chennai, India. This study was conducted in Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu, and the fourth most populous city in India. This survey focused on 40 low-income communities with fairly even distribution over the Chennai metropolitan area Figure 1. On a daily basis, many face problems common to the urban poor in India: high-density settlements, cramped living spaces, instability of housing structures, marginal living locations right next to fetid rivers, railroad tracks, and trash dumps , and lack of frequent access to potable water, electricity and appropriate sanitation facilities.
While screening participants for a behavioral intervention trial in the slums of Chennai, intimate partner violence emerged as a critical issue in these communities. This IRB is officially registered, follows international guidelines for human subjects research, and has board members from diverse disciplinary backgrounds, including social scientists, social activists, people living with HIV, and general medicine physicians YRG Center for AIDS Research and Education, Following this meeting, staff at YRG CARE conducted an in-depth assessment among members of similar communities in different parts of Chennai to understand this issue in more detail and plan appropriate interventions.
These areas fulfilled the following criteria: horizontal slums with an average of greater than 1, people approximately to 1, households and prior evidence of alcohol use, injection drug use, community-based sex work, or activity of men who have sex with men in the community.
