Violence and Women leads to sexual risk taking behavior

Violence takes it's tool on women. A recent study conducted by the Miriam Hospital's Center for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine found that diverse forms of violence may make a women more likley to take sexual risks. The different forms of violence from witnessing neighborhood crimes to being abused themselves are just some of the types of violence that can place women at risk.

The study involved 481 women attending an urban STD clinic who were assessed for previous history of violence and current sexual risk-taking behaviors.

Subjects were primarily African American and most were socioeconomically disadvantaged. Overall, patients reported high rates of exposure to violence compared to the general population. All types of violence were interrelated, with women who experienced one type of violence being more likely to experience other forms as well.

Although previous research has linked sexually risky behavior and diverse forms of violence, such as childhood maltreatment and sexual abuse, domestic abuse, and exposure to community violence, very few studies have considered patterns of violence and their impact on sexual risk-taking, according to the researchers.

Overall, these women reported high rates of exposure to violence compared to the general population. All types of violence were interrelated, with women who experienced one type being more likely to experience other forms as well, the researcher noted.

Using a statistical technique known as latent class analysis to find common patterns in the data, researchers identified four classes of women with different experiences of violence: Women with low exposure to violence (39 percent); women who were predominantly exposed to community violence (20 percent); women who were predominantly exposed to childhood maltreatment (23 percent); and women who experienced multiple forms of violence (18 percent).

“Given the ties between multiple violent experiences and sexual risk-taking, clinicians working with women who experience violence or who are at risk for HIV/STDs may need to consider the overlap between the two in order to impact sexual health consequences,” Walsh said, lead author Jennifer Walsh, Ph.D., of The Miriam Hospital’s Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine.

Those who work with women who have experienced one type of violence should ask about other types of violence “to get a complete picture.”

The researcher adds further research is needed to understand how and why violent experiences are associated with sexually risky behavior to help develop more effective interventions.

Source: Lifespan