Abstract

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a key public health and social concern among couples in countries globally. A systematic review was conducted to find out information concerning literature on the perpetration of IPV among couples infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The main objective of this study was to search for evidence of IPV among couples infected with HIV. Specifically, literature related to the types of violence perpetrated by intimate partners who were infected with HIV and literature on their experiences were reviewed. The search engines used in the review included PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar which focused on the perpetration of violence among HIV infected concordant or discordant couples. Four main categories of violence were identified in the scoping review, namely psychological abuse, physical abuse, sexual victimization or abuse as well as financial and other forms of abuse. Sixty-one (61) literature related to the topic were identified. Fifty-eight (58) articles were left after duplicates were removed. Title and abstract screening brought the number to 9 for full article screening. Nine (9) full-text studies were assessed out of the 58 and only 4 were included as they contained data on all the three categories of IPV: Physical IPV, sexual IPV, and psychological IPV experienced as a result of being HIV positive. Other IPV identified included financial deprivation, prevention of the partner from meeting colleagues, and verbal abuse such as shouting and scornful looks. The results of the systematic review showed limited studies on the perpetration of IPV among HIV infected couples. It is recommended that further studies be done on exploring experiences of couples who perpetrate IPV among HIV seroconcordant or serodiscordant infected couples.

Key words: Perpetrator, intimate partner violence, HIV, disclosure, factors.