Latina women in the United States are vulnerable to two intersecting public health concerns: intimate partner violence (IPV) and subsequent risk for HIV/AIDS infection. Examination of the cultural and contextual life factors of this understudied population is crucial to developing culturally relevant HIV interventions. Focus groups with Latinas (15 monolingual; 10 bilingual) who have experienced IPV were conducted. Monolingual and bilingual Latinas endorsed that they were concerned about HIV infection, naming partner infidelity and experiences of forced and coerced sex as primary reasons for their concern. However, monolingual participants had lower levels of HIV knowledge, spending much time discussing myths of HIV infection, whereas bilingual participants spent more time discussing specific prevention techniques, including challenges related to the violence in their relationships. These findings suggest that HIV/AIDS prevention programs for Latinas need to pay close attention to the different historical, contextual, and cultural experiences of this at-risk group of women.
AmaroH.RajA. (2000). On the margin: Power and women’s HIV risk reduction strategies. Sex Roles, 42, 723-749. doi:10.1023/A:1007059708789
2.
BernardH. R. (2002). Research methods in anthropology: Qualitative and quantitative methods (3rd ed.). Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.
3.
BlackM. C.BasileK. C.BreidingM. J.SmithS. G.WaltersM. L.MerrickM.. (2011). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: 2010 summary report. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control & National Center for Disease Control. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/NISVS/index.html
4.
CaetanoR.FieldG. A.Ramisetty-MiklerS.McGrathC. (2005). The 5-year course of intimate partner violence among White, Black, and Hispanic couples in the United States. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 20, 1039-1057. doi:10.1177/0886260505277783
5.
CareyM. P.SchroderK. E. E. (2002). Development and psychometric evaluation of the brief HIV knowledge questionnaire. AIDS Education and Prevention, 14, 172-182. doi:10.1521/aeap.14.2.172.23902
ChampionJ. D.ShainR. N.PiperJ. (2004). Minority adolescent women with sexually transmitted diseases and a history of sexual or physical abuse. Mental Health Nursing, 25, 293-316. doi:10.1080/01612840490274796
8.
CollinsP. Y.von UngerH.ArmbristerA. (2008). Church ladies, good girls and locas: Stigma and the intersection gender, ethnicity, mental illness, and sexuality in relation to HIV risk. Social Science & Medicine, 67, 389-397. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2008.03.013
9.
CorcoranC. D.SenchaudhuriP.MehtaC. R.PatelN. R. (2005). Exact inference for categorical data. In ArmitageP.ColtonT. (Eds.), Encyclopedia of biostatistics (2nd ed.) (pp. 1804-1820). Chichester, UK: John Wiley.
10.
DavilaY. R. (2005). The social construction and conceptualization of sexual health among Mexican women. Research and Theory for Nursing Practice, 19, 357-367. doi:10.1891/rtnp.2005.19.4.357
11.
DavilaY. R.BonillaE.Gonzalez-RamirezE.VillarruelA. (2007). HIV-IPV prevention: Perceptions of what Latinas want and need. Hispanic Health Care International, 5, 101-108. doi:10.1891/1540-4153.5.3.101
12.
DavilaY. R.BrackleyM. H. (1999). Mexican and Mexican American women in a battered women’s shelter: Barriers to condom negotiation for HIV/AIDS prevention. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 20, 333-355. doi:10.1080/016128499248529
13.
El-BasselN.GilbertL.WuE.GoH.HillJ. (2005). HIV and intimate partner violence among methadone-maintained women in New York City. Social Science & Medicine, 61, 171-183. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2004.11.035
Gonzalez-GuardaR.PeragalloN.UrrutiaM.VasquezM.MitraniV. (2008). HIV risks, substance abuse, and intimate partner violence among Hispanic women and their intimate partners. Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, 19, 252-266. doi:10.1016/j.jana.2008.04.001
16.
GutierrezL.YeakleyA.OrtegaR. (2000). Educating students for social work with Latinos: Issues for the new millennium. Journal of Social Work Education, 36, 541-557. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/23043529
17.
IngramE. M. (2007). A comparison of help seeking between Latino and non-Latino victims of intimate partner violence. Violence Against Women, 13, 159-171. doi:10.1177/1077801206296981
18.
JohnsonS. D.Cunningham-WilliamsR.CottlerL. (2003). A tripartite of HIV-risk for African American women: The intersection of drug use, violence & depression. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 70, 169-175. doi:10.1016/S0376871602003459
KasturiranganA.WilliamsE. N. (2003). Counseling Latina battered women: A qualitative study of the Latina perspective. Multicultural Counseling and Development, 31, 162-178. doi:10.1002/j.2161-1912.2003.tb00541.x
21.
KellyU. A. (2009). “I’m a mother first”: The influence of mothering in the decision-making processes of battered immigrant Latino women. Research in Nursing & Health, 32, 286-297. doi:10.1002/nur.20327
22.
KlevensJ. (2007). An overview of IPV among Latinas. Violence Against Women, 13, 111-122. doi:10.1177/1077801206296979
23.
MorenoC. L. (2007). The relationship between culture, gender, structural factors, abuse, trauma and HIV/AIDS for Latinas. Qualitative Health Research, 17, 340-352. doi:10.1177/1049732306297387
24.
MorenoC. L.MorrillA.El-BasselN. (2011). Sexual risk factors for HIV and violence among Puerto Rican women in New York City. Health & Social Work, 36, 87-97. doi:10.1093/hsw/36.2.87
25.
MurdaughC.HuntS.SowellR.SantanaI. (2004). Domestic violence in Hispanics in the Southeastern United States: A survey and needs analysis. Journal of Family Violence, 19, 107-115. doi:10.1023/B:JOFV.0000019841.58748.51
26.
PadgettD. K. (1998). Qualitative methods in social work research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
27.
PeragalloN.DeForgeB.O’CampoP.LeeS. M.KimY. J.CianelliR.FerrerL. (2005). A randomized clinical trial of an HIV-risk reduction intervention among low-income Latina women. Nursing Research, 54, 108-118. doi:10.1097/00006199-200503000-00005
28.
RajA.SantanaM. C.La MarcheA.AmaroH.CranstonK.SilvermanJ. G. (2006). Perpetration of intimate partner violence associated with sexual risk behaviors among young adult men. American Journal of Public Health, 96, 1873-1878. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2005.081554
29.
RajA.SilvermanJ. G.AmaroH. (2004). Abused women report greater male partner risk and gender-based risk for HIV: Findings from a community-based study with Hispanic women. AIDS Care, 16, 519-529. doi:10.1080/09540120410001683448
30.
ScottK. D.GilliamA.BraxtonJ. (2005). Culturally competent HIV prevention strategies for women of color in the United States. Health Care for Women International, 26, 17-45. doi:10.1080/07399330590885795
31.
TrickettE. J. (2002). Context, culture, and collaboration in AIDS interventions: Ecological ideas for enhancing community impact. Journal of Primary Prevention, 23, 157-174. doi:10.1023/A:1019964215050
WingoodG. M.DiClementeR. J.RajA. (2000). Adverse consequences of intimate partner abuse among women in non-urban domestic violence shelters. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 19, 270-275. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0749-3797(00)00228-2
34.
WuE.El-BasselN.WitteS.GilbertL.ChangM. (2003). Intimate partner violence and HIV risk among urban minority in primary health care settings. AIDS and Behavior, 7, 291-301. doi:10.1023/A:1025447820399
35.
WyattG. E.MyersH. F.WilliamsJ. K.KitchenC. R.LoebT.CaronaJ. V.. (2002). Does a history of trauma contribute to HIV risk for women of color? Implications for prevention and policy. American Journal of Public Health, 92, 660-665. doi:10.2105/AJPH.92.4.660
36.
ZambranaR. E.CorneliusL. J.BoykinS. S.LopezD. S. (2004). Latinas and HIV/AIDS risk factors: Implications for harm reduction strategies. American Journal of Public Health, 94, 1152-1158. doi:10.2105/AJPH.94.7.1152
