Masculinities, gender-based violence, HIV and AIDS in Botswana

Abstract

Gender-based violence (GBV) is a significant public health problem with a demonstrated link with gender ideologies, power relations, intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration, and risky sexual behaviours. This paper uses the Botswana AIDS Impact Survey (BAIS IV) (2013) to assess the association between masculinities, intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual risk.  It studies factors that influencing violence, HIV-associated sexual risk-taking behaviours and the bidirectional relationship between violence and HIV status. BAIS IV results indicate that 24.8 % of females with early sexual debut had also reported non-consensual sex at the time of intercourse. The results have significant implications for designing public health/social work interventions that promote population health.