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Childhood sexual abuse and HIV positive status among South African women : the role of revictimization

Includes bibliographical references

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: George, Meg
Other Authors: Kaminer, Debbie
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Psychology 2014
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access_status_str Open Access
author George, Meg
author2 Kaminer, Debbie
author_browse George, Meg
Kaminer, Debbie
author_facet Kaminer, Debbie
George, Meg
author_sort George, Meg
collection Thesis
description Includes bibliographical references
format Thesis
id oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/10550
institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:33:48.261Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2014
publishDateRange 2014
publishDateSort 2014
publisher Department of Psychology
publisherStr Department of Psychology
record_format dspace
source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/10550 Childhood sexual abuse and HIV positive status among South African women : the role of revictimization George, Meg Kaminer, Debbie Gobodo-Madikizela, Pumla Clinical Psychology Includes bibliographical references South Africa has a very high rate of HIV infection, particularly among women. This exploratory study investigated the role of revictimization in the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and adult HIV positive status among women being treated at district clinics in Cape Town The present study utilized both psychological and feminist theories to understand internal psychological dynamics and contextual factors that impact on revictimization leading to increased HIV risk. A qualitative feminist methodology with a collective case study design utilizing five in-depth interviews was conducted with HIV positive women who had experienced child sexual abuse. The central findings of the study revealed psychological patterns of negative stigmatization, self-blame, mistrust and isolation which may fuel a dependent need for connection with intimate partners, thereby increasing risk for revictimization. Revictimization was pervasively present in adulthood, with HIV infection being a consequence of ongoing sexual and/or physical assault in long-term intimate relationship. Participants reported not using condoms consistently. For these participants, an incapacity to insist on condom use by partners was understood in the context of ongoing sexual and physical violence and threats by their partners, rather than unassertiveness as has been commonly noted. In essence, it was noted in this study that participants who experienced child sexual abuse were disempowered due to both psychological processes and broader social inequities which made them particularly vulnerable to contracting HIV. However, the findings are provisional due to the methodology utilized. Recommendations for future research and HIV prevention and policy are offered. 2014-12-30T06:49:26Z 2014-12-30T06:49:26Z 2006 Master Thesis Masters MSocSc http://hdl.handle.net/11427/10550 eng application/pdf Department of Psychology Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town
spellingShingle Clinical Psychology
George, Meg
Childhood sexual abuse and HIV positive status among South African women : the role of revictimization
thesis_degree_str Master's
title Childhood sexual abuse and HIV positive status among South African women : the role of revictimization
title_full Childhood sexual abuse and HIV positive status among South African women : the role of revictimization
title_fullStr Childhood sexual abuse and HIV positive status among South African women : the role of revictimization
title_full_unstemmed Childhood sexual abuse and HIV positive status among South African women : the role of revictimization
title_short Childhood sexual abuse and HIV positive status among South African women : the role of revictimization
title_sort childhood sexual abuse and hiv positive status among south african women the role of revictimization
topic Clinical Psychology
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/10550
work_keys_str_mv AT georgemeg childhoodsexualabuseandhivpositivestatusamongsouthafricanwomentheroleofrevictimization