Understanding the effect of gender-based violence on uptake and utilisation of HIV prevention, treatment, and care services among transgender women: a qualitative study in the greater Kampala metropolitan area, Uganda.

BACKGROUND: Transwomen (also known as transgender women) are disproportionately affected by all forms of gender-based violence (GBV). The high prevalence of physical, sexual and emotional violence not only predisposes transwomen to HIV infection but also limits the uptake/access to HIV prevention, care, and treatment services. Despite the high prevalence of HIV infection and GBV among transwomen, there is limited evidence on how GBV affects the uptake and utilisation of HIV prevention, care, and treatment services. Therefore, this qualitative study explored how GBV affects uptake and utilisation of HIV prevention, treatment, and care services among transwomen in the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area (GKMA), Uganda. METHODS: This participatory qualitative study was conducted among transwomen in the GKMA. A total of 20 in-depth interviews, 6 focus group discussions, and 10 key informant interviews were conducted to explore how GBV affects the uptake and utilisation of HIV prevention, treatment, and care services among transwomen. Data were analysed using a thematic content analysis framework. Data were transcribed verbatim, and NVivo version 12 was used for coding. RESULTS: At the individual level, emotional violence suffered by transwomen led to fear of disclosing their HIV status and other health conditions to intimate partners and healthcare providers respectively; inability to negotiate condom use; and non-adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART). Sexual violence compromised the ability of transwomen to negotiate condom use with intimate partners, clients, and employers. Physical and emotional violence at the community level led to fear among transwomen traveling to healthcare facilities. Emotional violence suffered by transwomen in healthcare settings led to the limited use of pre-exposure prophylaxis and HIV testing services, denial of healthcare services, and delays in receiving appropriate care. The fear of emotional violence also made it difficult for transwomen to approach healthcare providers. Fear of physical violence such as being beaten while in healthcare settings made transwomen shun healthcare facilities. CONCLUSION: The effects of GBV on the uptake and utilisation of HIV prevention, care, and treatment services were observed in individual, community, and healthcare settings. Across all levels, physical, emotional, and sexual violence suffered by transwomen led to the shunning of healthcare facilities, denial of healthcare services, delays in receiving appropriate care, and the low utilisation of post-exposure prophylaxis, and HIV testing services. Given its effects on HIV transmission, there is a need to develop and implement strategies/ interventions targeting a reduction in GBV. Interventions should include strategies to sensitize communities to accept transwomen. Healthcare settings should provide an enabling environment for transwomen to approach any healthcare provider of their choice without fear of experiencing GBV.

Removing the societal and legal impediments to the HIV response: An evidence-based framework for 2025 and beyond.

Societal and legal impediments inhibit quality HIV prevention, care, treatment and support services and need to be removed. The political declaration adopted by UN member countries at the high-level meeting on HIV and AIDS in June 2021, included new societal enabler global targets for achievement by 2025 that will address this gap. Our paper describes how and why UNAIDS arrived at the societal enabler targets adopted. We conducted a scoping review and led a participatory process between January 2019 and June 2020 to develop an evidence-based framework for action, propose global societal enabler targets, and identify indicators for monitoring progress. A re-envisioned framework called the '3 S's of the HIV response: Society, Systems and Services' was defined. In the framework, societal enablers enhance the effectiveness of HIV programmes by removing impediments to service availability, access and uptake at the societal level, while service and system enablers improve efficiencies in and expand the reach of HIV services and systems. Investments in societal enabling approaches that remove legal barriers, shift harmful social and gender norms, reduce inequalities and improve institutional and community structures are needed to progressively realize four overarching societal enablers, the first three of which fall within the purview of the HIV sector: (i) societies with supportive legal environments and access to justice, (ii) gender equal societies, (iii) societies free from stigma and discrimination, and (iv) co-action across development sectors to reduce exclusion and poverty. Three top-line and 15 detailed targets were recommended for monitoring progress towards their achievement. The clear articulation of societal enablers in the re-envisioned framework should have a substantial impact on improving the effectiveness of core HIV programmes if implemented. Together with the new global targets, the framework will also galvanize advocacy to scale up societal enabling approaches with proven impact on HIV outcomes.

Interventions to reduce gender-based violence among young people living with or affected by HIV/AIDS in low-income and middle-income countries.

OBJECTIVE(S): This study explored the effectiveness of gender-based violence (GBV) interventions on young people living with or affected by HIV in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis. METHODS: We pre-registered a protocol, then searched 13 databases and grey literature. We screened randomized and quasi-experimental studies (n = 2199) of young people (aged 10-24) living with or affected by HIV in LMICs. Outcomes were GBV and/or GBV-related attitudes. We appraised the data for risk of bias and quality of evidence. Narrative syntheses and multilevel random effects meta-analyses were conducted. RESULTS: We included 18 studies evaluating 21 interventions. Intervention arms were categorized as: sexual health and social empowerment (SHSE; n = 7); SHSE combined with economic strengthening (n = 4); self-defence (n = 3); safer schools (n = 2); economic strengthening only (n = 2); GBV sensitization (n = 2) and safer schools and parenting (n = 1). Risk of bias was moderate/high and quality of evidence low. Narrative syntheses indicated promising effects on GBV exposure, but no or mixed effects on GBV perpetration and attitudes for self-defence and GBV sensitization interventions. Safer school interventions showed no effects. For SHSE interventions and SHSE combined with economic strengthening, meta-analyses showed a small reduction in GBV exposure but not perpetration. Economic-only interventions had no overall effect. CONCLUSION: SHSE, SHSE plus and self-defence and gender sensitization interventions may be effective for GBV exposure and GBV-related attitudes but not for GBV perpetration. However, the quality of evidence is poor. Future intervention research must include both boys and girls, adolescents living with HIV and key populations.

In Women's Eyes: Key Barriers to Women's Access to HIV Treatment and a Rights-Based Approach to their Sustained Well-Being.

There is rightly a huge global effort to enable women living with HIV to have long productive lives, through treatment access. However, many women living with HIV experience violence against women (VAW), in both domestic and health care settings. The ways in which VAW might prevent treatment access and adherence for women has not to date been reviewed coherently at the global level, from women's own perspectives. Meanwhile, funding for global health care, including HIV treatment, is shrinking. To optimize women's health and know how best to optimize facilitators and minimize barriers to access and adherence, especially in this shrinking funding context, we need to understand more about these issues from women's own perspectives. In response, we conducted a three-phase review: (1) a literature review (phase one); (2) focus group discussions and interviews with nearly 200 women living with HIV from 17 countries (phase two); and (3) three country case studies (phase three). The results presented here are based predominantly on women's own experiences and are coherent across all three phases. Recommendations are proposed regarding laws, policies, and programs which are rights-based, gendered, and embrace diversity, to maximize women's voluntary, informed, confidential, and safe access to and adherence to medication, and optimize their long-term sexual and reproductive health.