Dangerous Combo: Violence in Pregnancy and HIV in South Africa

By Alisa HatfieldJOHANNESBURG, Mar 7 2014 (IPS) When Phumzile Khoza* came to the central Johannesburg antenatal clinic on a chilly day in August 2013, she was feeling on edge. Not about the medical procedures – she already had two children – but about talking to the nurse. One in four South African women experience intimate partner violence during pregnancy. Credit: Alisa Hatfield This was her third pregnancy living with HIV, but the first with a new partner from whom she had been hiding her status for the past two years. This pregnancy had been rocky from the start. Khoza had been trying to convince her partner to join her for HIV testing, but he refused. Without couples’ counseling, Khoza was afraid to disclose, and it was becoming harder to take and hide her daily medication of antiretrovirals (ARV). Khoza’s partner was now regularly slapping her, punching her stomach, and kicking her during arguments.  Khoza feared it would get worse if he learned she was HIV-positive. Although she wanted help, Khoza imagined the nurses would not have time to talk through her complex situation. Plus, she had seen how angry the nurses became with women who defaulted on ARV treatment. Looking back on that antenatal visit, Khoza reflected: “I was stressing about the way I lived my life, stressing about my past, stressing about my pregnancy. And I had no one.” Shocking figures Khoza’s story is increasingly common. An estimated one in four South African women experience intimate...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: Global & Universal Authors: Tags: Africa Countdown to ZERO Crime & Justice Featured Gender Gender Violence Headlines Health Population Poverty & MDGs Women's Health Domestic Violence HIV/AIDS Pregnancy South Africa Source Type: news