Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T00:10:39.407Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

A phenomenological study of the experience of domestic violence in Iranian women with HIV

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 May 2019

Maryam Gharacheh
Affiliation:
Nursing Care Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Iranian Research Center for HIV/AIDS, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Nooredin Mohammadi
Affiliation:
Nursing Care Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Fahimeh Ranjbar
Affiliation:
Nursing Care Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Hamid Emadi Kochak
Affiliation:
Iranian Research Center for HIV/AIDS, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Simin Montazeri*
Affiliation:
Department of Midwifery, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran

Abstract

This study explores the lived experience of domestic violence in HIV-infected women in Iran using a qualitative phenomenological approach. Data were collected in 2014 through in-depth interview of twelve HIV-infected women purposefully selected from a counselling centre in Tehran. The qualitative data were analysed using a thematic analysis approach. The main theme that emerged was ‘the sunset of life’ – an emotional numbing and fragile marital relationship resulting from the violence suffered by the women. From this, three sub-themes expressing women’s feelings of hopelessness were extracted: ‘the destroyed life’, ‘being in the destiny prison’ and ‘living on the edge of annihilation’. The results revealed that although the experience of domestic violence had devastating effects on women’s lives, HIV infection was the factor that forced them to remain trapped in violent relationships. The findings emphasize the importance of designing comprehensive violence prevention strategies tailored to meeting the needs of HIV-infected women in Iran.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abadi, NLM, Ghazinour, M, Nojomi, M and Richter, J (2012) The buffering effect of social support between domestic violence and self-esteem in pregnant women in Tehran, Iran. Journal of Family Violence 27(3), 225231.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Abraham, M (2000) Isolation as a form of marital violence: the South Asian immigrant experience. Journal of Social Distress and the Homeless 9(3), 221236.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aliverdinia, A and Pridemore, WA (2009) Women’s fatalistic suicide in Iran: a partial test of Durkheim in an Islamic Republic. Violence Against Women 15(3), 307320.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Behboodi-Moghadam, Z, Khalajinia, Z, Nasrabadi, AR, Mohraz, M and Gharacheh, M (2016) Pregnancy through the lens of Iranian women with HIV: a qualitative study. Journal of the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care 15(2), 148152.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bernstein, M, Phillips, T, Zerbe, A, McIntyre, JA, Brittain, K, Petro, G et al. (2016) Intimate partner violence experienced by HIV-infected pregnant women in South Africa: a cross-sectional study. BMJ Open 6, e011999.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bogart, LM, Collins, RL, Cunningham, W, Beckman, R, Golinelli, D, Eisenman, D and Bird, CE (2005) The association of partner abuse with risky sexual behaviors among women and men with HIV/AIDS. AIDS and Behavior 9(3), 325333.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ceccon, RF, Meneghel, SN and Hirakata, VN (2014) Women with HIV: gender violence and suicidal ideation. Rev Saúde Pública 48(5), 758765.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chappell, S (2014) Reducing the risk of domestic violence against HIV-positive women: the application and efficacy of New York’s partner notification deferral mandate. Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy 22, 241261.Google Scholar
Edwards, LV, Irving, SM and Hawkins, AS (2011) Till death do us part: lived experiences of HIV-positive married African American women. Qualitative Report 16(5), 13611379.Google Scholar
Garrusi, B, Nakhaee, N and Zangiabadi, M (2008) Domestic violence: frequency and women’s perception in Iran (IR). Journal of Applied Sciences 8(2), 340345.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hale, F and Vazquez, M (2011) Violence Against Women Living with HIV/AIDS: A Background Paper. Development Connections and the International, Community of Women Living with AIDS, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Hampanda, KM (2016) Intimate partner violence and HIV-positive women’s non-adherence to antiretroviral medication for the purpose of prevention of mother-to-child transmission in Lusaka, Zambia. Social Science & Medicine 153, 123e130.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hassanian-Moghaddam, H, Zamani, N and Sarjami, S (2016) Violence and abuse against women who have attempted suicide by deliberate self-poisoning: a 2-year follow-up study in Iran. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 31(7), 12571273.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Iran National Center for AIDS Prevention (2016) Latest Statistics on HIV/AIDS in the Country by the End of June 2016. URL: http://aids.ir/post/1161 (accessed 10th November 2017).Google Scholar
Keenan, KF and van Teijlingen, E (2004) The quality of qualitative research in family planning and reproductive health care. Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care 30(4), 257259.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kouyoumdjian, FG, Calzavara, LM, Bondy, SJ, O’campo, P, Serwadda, D, Nalugoda, F et al. (2013) Intimate partner violence is associated with incident HIV infection in women in Uganda. Aids 27(8), 13311338.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Langdridge, D (2007) Phenomenological Psychology: Theory, Research and Method. Pearson Education, Harlow.Google Scholar
Lichtenstein, B (2006) Domestic violence in barriers to health care for HIV-positive women. AIDS Patient Care & STDs 20(2), 122132.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lincoln, YS and Guba, EG (1985) Naturalistic Inquiry. SAGE Publications, Newbury Park.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loke, AY, Emma Wan, ML and Hayter, M (2012) The lived experience of women victims of intimate partner violence. Journal of Clinical Nursing 21, 23362346.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McCosker, H, Barnard, A and Gerber, R (2003) Phenomenographic study of women’s experiences of domestic violence during the childbearing years. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing 7(1), 113.Google Scholar
Machtinger, EL, Wilson, TC, Haberer, JE and Weiss, DS (2012) Psychological trauma and PTSD in HIV-positive women: a meta-analysis. AIDS and Behavior 16(8), 20912100.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Madiba, S and Ngwenya, N (2017) Cultural practices, gender inequality and inconsistent condom use increase vulnerability to HIV infection: narratives from married and cohabiting women in rural communities in Mpumalanga province, South Africa. Global Health Action 10 (Supplement 2), 1341597.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Makin, JD, Forsyth, BW, Visser, MJ, Sikkema, KJ, Neufeld, S and Jeffery, B (2008) Factors affecting disclosure in South African HIV-positive pregnant women. AIDS Patient Care and STDs 22(11), 907916.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moghaddam Hosseini, V, Asadi, ZS, Akaberi, A and Hashemian, M (2013) Intimate partner violence in the eastern part of Iran: a path analysis of risk factors. Issues in Mental Health Nursing 34(8), 619625.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mohammadi, N, Emadi Kochak, H and Gharacheh, M (2015) The lived experience of domestic violence in Iranian HIV-infected women. Global Journal of Health Science 7(5), 4350.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Onsomu, EO, Abuya, BA, Okech, IN, Rosen, DL, Duren-Winfield, V and Simmons, AC (2015) Association between domestic violence and HIV serostatus among married and formerly married women in Kenya. Health Care for Women International 36(2), 205228.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Onu, CC, Dworkin, SL, Ongeri, LG, Oyaro, P, Neylan, TC, Cohen, CR >et al. (2017) Brief report. Sexual violence against HIV-positive women in the Nyanza region of Kenya: Is condom negotiation an instigator? Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes 24(1), 5255.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Orza, L, Bewley, S, Chung, C, Tyler Crone, E, Nagadya, H, Vazquez, M and Welbourn, A (2015) ‘Violence. Enough already’: findings from a global participatory survey among women living with HIV. Journal of the International AIDS Society 18 (Supplement 5), 20285.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pyles, L (2007) The complexities of the religious response to domestic violence. Journal of Women and Social Work 22(3), 281291.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rahmati-Najarkolaei, F, Niknami, S, Aminshokravi, F, Bazargan, M, Ahmadi, F, Hadjizadeh, E and Tavafian, SS (2010) Experiences of stigma in healthcare settings among adults living with HIV in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Journal of the International AIDS Society 13(1), 27.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rigby, SW and Johnson, LF (2017) The relationship between intimate partner violence and HIV: a model-based evaluation. Infectious Disease Modelling 2(1), 7189.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rouleau, G, Cote, J and Cara, C (2010) Disclosure experience in a convenience sample of Quebec-born women living with HIV: a phenomenological study. BMC Women’s Health 12, 37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Siemieniuk, RA, Krentz, HB, Miller, P, Woodman, K, Ko, K and Gill, MJ (2013) The clinical implications of high rates of intimate partner violence against HIV-positive women. Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes 64(1), 3238.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stoever, JK (2008) Stories absent from the courtroom: responding to domestic violence in the context of HIV and AIDS. North Carolina Law Review 87, 1157.Google Scholar
Taherkhani, S, Negarandeh, R, Simbar, M and Ahmadi, F (2014) Iranian women’s experiences with intimate partner violence: a qualitative Study. Health Promotion Perspective 4(2), 230239.Google ScholarPubMed
Tizro, Z (2013) Domestic Violence in Iran: Women, Marriage and Islam. Routledge, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
UNAIDS (2014) Women Living with HIV Speak Out Against Violence. URL: http://www.unaids.org/en/resources/documents/2014/womenlivingwithhivspeakout (accessed 20th November 2017).Google Scholar
van Manen, M (1990) Researching Lived Experience: Human Science for an Action Sensitive Pedagogy. State University of New York Press, Albany.Google Scholar
Were, E, Curran, K, Delany-Moretlwe, S, Nakku-Joloba, E, Mugo, NR, Kiarie, J et al. (2011) A prospective study of frequency and correlates of intimate partner violence among African heterosexual HIV serodiscordant couples. AIDS 25(16), 20092018.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weissman, DM (2007) The personal is political – and economic: rethinking domestic violence. BYU Law Review 2007(2), 387450.Google Scholar
World Bank (2002) Engendering Development Through Gender Equality in Rights, Resources, and Voice. Oxford University Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
WHO (2016) Violence Against Women. URL: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs239/en/ (accessed 29th November 2017).Google Scholar
WHO (2002) Recommendations from the World Report on Violence and Health. URL: https://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/world_report/en/wrvhrecommendations.pdf (accessed 3rd November 2017).Google Scholar