[WePeF6690] Partner reaction to HIV disclosure

14th International AIDS Conference

Barcelona, Spain — July 7-12, 2002

[TITLE:] Partner reaction to HIV disclosure

[AUTHOR(S):] E. Mouyis, A. Deverell, J. McIntyre¹, G. Gray²

Int Conf AIDS. 2002 Jul 7-12;14:Abstract No. WePeF6690

BACKGROUND: Although African women constitute the vast majority of HIV cases in South Africa, little is known about the psychosocial consequences they face at disclosure. This qualitative research study aimed to explore HIV-infected women's experiences at disclosure of their serostatus to their partner.

METHODS: A survey was carried out over a three-week period, among 101 seropositive women from various support groups for HIV-infected women in Soweto, South Africa. The survey focused on factors that promote domestic violence, rejection and abandonment of women at and/or after disclosure. Contextual factors, namely socio-economic determinants and the time interval between women's diagnosis and disclosure were also examined.

RESULTS: A Thematic Content Analysis of the interviews revealed that male partners who had shown a history of abusive behaviour were more likely to abuse their female partners, either verbally or physically. There was a tendency for the occurrence of abusive behaviour after disclosure to increase in cases when the male partner abused drugs or alcohol. Finally, it was revealed that social stigma appears to play a role in influencing partner reaction following disclosure.

CONCLUSIONS: These findings have implications for the development of interventions to enhance women's disclosure of their HIV-positive status to their partners. Further research would be useful in examining the sociocultural factors influencing male partner's abusive behaviour in a South-African context.

Presenting author: Elena Mouyis

1University, Foyer Sainte Thérèse, 21 Rue Luneau, 85000 La Roche sur Yon, Vendée, South Africa.

2Hospital, Johannesburg, South Africa.

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