Sexual assault, sexual risks and gender attitudes in a community sample of South African men

• Published in: AIDS care Vol. 19; no. 1; pp. 20 - 27
• Main Authors: Kalichman, S. C., Simbayi, L. C., Cain, D., Cherry, C., Henda, N., Cloete, A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Taylor & Francis Group 01-01-2007; Taylor & Francis; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; AIDS; AIDS/HIV; Attitude; Attitudes; Battered Women; Biological and medical sciences; Domestic violence; Female; Gender; Gender differences; Health; HIV; HIV Infections - transmission; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Men - psychology; Mental health; Multivariate Analysis; Prevention. Health policy. Planification; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Rape - prevention & control; Rape - psychology; Risk behaviour; Risk Factors; Sex crimes; Sex Offenses - trends; Sexual abuse; Sexual assault; Sexual health; Sexually transmitted diseases; Social psychiatry. Ethnopsychiatry; South Africa; Studies; Violence - psychology; South Africa; Africa; Cape Town South Africa; South Africa, Western Cape, Cape Town; Social environment; Mental health; Male; Victimology; Public inquiry; Prevention; Ideology; Sexual abuse; Public health; Human; Immunopathology; Rape; Aggression; Attitude; Violence; Retroviridae; AIDS; Intersex relation; Immune deficiency; Lentivirus; Infection; Virus; Viral disease; Risk factor; Human immunodeficiency virus; Antecedent; Feminity masculinity
• ISSN: 0954-0121; 1360-0451
• DOI: 10.1080/09540120600984003

Sexual assault against women and HIV infection are both prevalent and related social problems in South Africa. The current study examined hostile attitudes toward women, acceptance of violence against women and masculine ideological beliefs in relation to sexual assault history among men in a Cape Town township in South African. Men (n=435) completed anonymous surveys of sexual assault history, HIV risk history and gender-based attitudes. More than one in five men in this community sample reported that they had either threatened to use force or used force to gain sexual access to a woman in their lifetime. Men with a history of sexual assault were at significantly higher risk for HIV transmission than their non-sexually assaultive counterparts. Men with a history of sexual assault were also more likely to endorse hostile attitudes toward women and were more likely to accept violence against women, although these attitudes and beliefs were prevalent and pervasive across men with and without histories of sexual assault. These findings extend previous research to show that men who have a history of sexual assault also exhibit elevated risks for HIV infection and transmission. Interventions are needed to address hostile attitudes toward women, sexual assault and sexual risks for HIV among South African men.