Intimate partner violence and HIV in ten sub-Saharan African countries: what do the Demographic and Health Surveys tell us?

Background Many studies have identifi ed a signifi cant positive relation between intimate partner violence and HIV in women, but adjusted analyses have produced inconsistent results. We systematically assessed the association, and under what condition it holds, using nationally representative data from ten sub-Saharan African countries, focusing on physical, sexual, and emotional violence, and on the role of male controlling behaviour. Methods We assessed cross-sectional data from 12 Demographic and Health Surveys from ten countries in sub- Saharan Africa. The data are nationally representative for women aged 15–49 years. We estimated odds ratios using logistic regression with and without controls for demographic and socioeconomic factors and survey–region fi xed eff ects. Exposure was measured using physical, sexual, emotional violence, and male controlling behaviour, and combinations of these. The samples used were ever-married women, married women, and women in their fi rst union. Depending on specifi cation, the sample size varied between 11 231 and 45 550 women. Findings There were consistent and strong associations between HIV infection in women and physical violence, emotional violence, and male controlling behaviour (adjusted odds ratios ranged from 1·2 to 1·7; p values ranged from <0·0001 to 0·0058). The evidence for an association between sexual violence and HIV was weaker and only signifi cant in the sample with women in their fi rst union. The associations were dependent on the presence of controlling behaviour and a high regional HIV prevalence rate; when women were exposed to only physical, sexual, or emotional violence, and no controlling behaviour, or when HIV prevalence rates are lower than 5%, the adjusted odds ratios were, in general, close to 1 and insignifi cant. Interpretation The fi ndings indicate that male controlling behaviour in its own right, or as an indicator of ongoing or severe violence, puts women at risk of HIV infection. HIV prevention interventions should focus on high-prevalence areas and men with controlling behaviour, in addition to violence. Funding Swedish National Science Foundation and Gothenburg Centre of Globalization and Development, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

Preferences for redistribution: a country comparison of fairness judgements

This paper seeks to explain within- and between-country variation in redistributive preferences in terms of self-interest concerns and an input-based concept of fairness, which we examine by looking at the effects of beliefs regarding the causes of income differences. Results of estimations based on data for 25 countries indicate that both factors are indeed important determinants of redistribution support, in line with hypothesised patterns. We find that while differences in beliefs on what causes income differences seem to be important for explaining within-country variation in redistributive preferences, they do little to explain between-country differences. Differences in the effects of holding certain beliefs, however, are important for explaining between-country variation in redistributive preferences, suggesting considerable heterogeneity across societies in what is considered as fair

Challenges of Assessment in Ethics – Teachers’ reflections when assessing National Tests

The aim of this article is to identify and discuss challenges in assessing pupils’ knowledge in Ethics. The background of the study is the development of the knowledge field Ethics, a part of Religious Education (RE) in Sweden which in the sixties went from being a Christian school subject to a pluralistic and non-confessional one. The knowledge field Ethics is, in this school context, marked by vagueness, due partly to its indistinct frames and partly to a duality in the aims represented in the directives of the curriculum. Methodologically, data was produced through a think-aloud study where six teachers assessed pupil-responses in Ethics within the National Test for RE. The teachers’ ongoing assessments were audio recorded, transcribed and analysed in a qualitative text analysis that focused on different kinds of challenges that the teachers experienced. Since this kind of study has not been conducted before, the analyses were explorative and, rather than being theory guided, were guided by the aim and the research question of the study. The findings show three groups of challenges related to the assessment processes. The first group of challenges concerns interpretations of the assessment instructions, the second regards competing ideas about what students should be given credit for during assessment in Ethics and the third is about being positioned between the pupils’ need for good grades and the task of differentiating between students. The discussion distinguishes between general challenges in assessment and challenges related to Ethics and its partly unclear character in the RE school context. In such a situation when the construction of a knowledge field is vague, the influence of national tests can be assumed to be considerable and the need for research regarding different conceptions of ethical competence is therefore urgent

To educate a woman and to educate a man: Gender-specific sexual behaviour and HIV responses to an education reform in Botswana

Education has been suggested as a ‘vaccine’ against HIV infection, but there is not much causal evidence behind this claim. Moreover, the few studies that exist on the impact of education on HIV infection and related outcomes have focused mostly on women, despite the fact that there are reasons to expect the responses of women and men to differ. This study analyses mechanisms that link education to HIV with a focus on gender differences, using data from four nationally representative surveys in Botswana. To estimate the casual effect, an exogenous one-year increase of junior secondary school is used, which in previous studies has been found to reduce HIV infection rates and increase incomes. The key finding is that women and men responded differently to the reform. It led to delayed sexual debut by up to a year among women and an increase in risky sex among men, measured by number of concurrent sexual partnerships and the likelihood of paying for sex. The increase in risky sex among men is likely to be due to the reform’s positive impact on income. The school reform reduced the likelihood of HIV infection among women, but had no statistically significant impact on this variable among men.JEL: I12, I15, I25, I2

Intimate Partner Violence and HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa

We investigate the relationship between intimate partner violence (IPV) and HIV among married women using Demographic and Health Survey data from ten sub-Saharan African countries, and find a strong association. The association is due to higher HIV risk among violent men; neither women’s decreased ability to protect themselves from HIV transmission within marriage, nor their risky sexual behavior, explains the link. Thus, it is not violence per se that drives the spread of HIV, but the fact that violent men are more likely to become HIV positive and then infect their wives. Programs that aim at reducing HIV by eliminating IPV should therefore also focus on men’s risky sexual behavior.JEL Classification: I14; I15; J1