Forced sexual intercourse in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is strongly associated with HIV infection. This conclusion emerged from research led by the Education of Human Affectivity and Sexuality project of the Institute for Culture and Society (ICS) at the University of Navarra. The research was published in the Plos One medicine journal.

The study included 1,614 participants, who received counseling and voluntary testing for HIV in a hospital in Kinshasa. 34% of them reported that they had been victims of forced sexual intercourse.

Women are more likely to be victims, as well as people between 25 and 49 years of age, those who have multiple or simultaneous sexual partners throughout life and those who report higher alcohol consumption. Also, compared to married people, single, divorced or widowed women were more vulnerable.

The researchers describe other problems that may increase sexual abuse of women: "Some African beliefs and practices mold a social environment in which men consider women property."

At the same time, they point out that women are educated "to believe that men are superior to them and to accept violence as a form of discipline." In addition to these problems, there are also forced marriages, which can lead to abuse.

With respect to men, the article states that they can also be victims of sexual violence. According to national estimates, between 6% and 27% of men in sub-Saharan Africa have experienced sexual violence at least once.

Policies to prevent violence

The authors of the article emphasize that, "researchers, professionals and decision-makers should work together to integrate the prevention of violence into health, social and educational policies."

For this, the authors suggest identifying all possible risk factors in order to include them in counseling interventions: "There is an urgent need for programs and policies focused on the reduction of the forced sexual relations prevalent in this population."

The research behind this article received funding from the Research Plan of the University of Navarra (PIUNA for its initials in Spanish). Some of the authors work at the University of Navarra’s School of Medicine, the School of Education and Psychology and within the Education of Human Affectivity and Sexuality project of the Institute for Culture and Society (ICS).

Researchers from the Institute of Health Research of Navarra (IdiSNA for its initials in Spanish) and several Congolese entities also collaborated, including Monkole Hospital Center, the ISSI Nursing School of Monkole, the School of Medicine at the University of Mwene-Ditu and the School of Law at the Catholic University of the Congo.

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