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The impact of social violence on HIV risk for women in Colombia: A concurrent mixed methods study
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

The impact of social violence on HIV risk for women in Colombia: A concurrent mixed methods study

Catalina Correa-Salazar, Ariela Braverman-Bronstein, Usama Bilal, Ali K Groves, Kathleen R Page, Joseph J Amon, Alejandra Vera, Laura Ballesteros and Ana Martínez-Donate
PLOS global public health, v 3(2), e0001571
2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0001571
PMID: 36963089
url
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0001571View
Published, Version of Record (VoR)CC BY V4.0,  Open

Abstract

Gender, violence, and migration structurally impact health. The Venezuelan humanitarian crisis comprises the largest transnational migration in the history of the Americas. Colombia, a post-conflict country, is the primary recipient of Venezuelans. The Colombian context imposes high levels of violence on women across migration phases. There is little information on the relationship between violence and HIV risk in the region and how it impacts these groups. Evidence on how to approach the HIV response related to Venezuela's humanitarian crisis is lacking. Our study seeks to 1) understand how violence is associated with newly reported HIV/AIDS case rates for women in Colombian municipalities; and 2) describe how social violence impacts HIV risk, treatment, and prevention for Venezuelan migrant and refugee women undergoing transnational migration and resettlement in Colombia. We conducted a concurrent mixed-methods design. We used negative binomial models to explore associations between social violence proxied by Homicide Rates (HR) at the municipality level (n = 84). The also conducted 54 semi-structured interviews with Venezuelan migrant and refugee women and key informants in two Colombian cities to expand and describe contextual vulnerabilities to HIV risk, prevention and care related to violence. We found that newly reported HIV cases in women were 25% higher for every increase of 18 homicides per 100,000, after adjusting for covariates. Upon resettlement, participants cited armed actors' control, lack of government accountability, gender-based violence and stigmatization of HIV as sources of increased HIV risk for VMRW. These factors impose barriers to testing, treatment and care. Social violence in Colombian municipalities is associated with an increase in newly reported HIV/AIDS case rates in women. Violence hinders Venezuelan migrant and refugee women's access and engagement in available HIV prevention and treatment interventions.

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