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Property Rights Violations as a Structural Driver of Women’s HIV Risks: A Qualitative Study in Nyanza and Western Provinces, Kenya

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An Erratum to this article was published on 08 January 2013

Abstract

While access to and control over assets can minimize women’s HIV risk, little is known about the processes through which property rights violations increase the sexual transmission of HIV. The current study focused on two rural areas in Nyanza and Western Province, Kenya where HIV prevalence was high (23.8–33 %) and property rights violations were common. The current work drew on in-depth interview data collected from 50 individuals involved in the development and implementation of a community-led land and property rights program. The program was designed to respond to property rights violations, prevent disinheritance and asset stripping, and reduce HIV risk among women. In our findings, we detailed the social and economic mechanisms through which a loss of property rights was perceived to influence primary and secondary prevention of HIV. These included: loss of income, loss of livelihood and shelter, and migration to slums, markets, or beaches where the exchange of sex for food, money, shelter, clothing, or other goods was common. We also examined the perceived influence of cultural practices, such as wife inheritance, on HIV risk. In the conclusions, we made recommendations for future research in the science-base focused on the development of property ownership as a structural HIV prevention and treatment intervention.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health, University of California, San Francisco Gladstone Institute of Virology & Immunology, Center for AIDS Research, P30-AI027763. The authors are grateful to the anonymous reviewers and the Editor for their helpful comments. The authors are grateful to the Director of the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) and the Director of the Center for Microbiology Research at KEMRI for their guidance on and support of this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Social and Behavioral Sciences and Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, University of California at San Francisco, 3333 California Street, LHTS #455, San Francisco, CA, 94118, USA

    Shari L. Dworkin

  2. Department of Psychology, University of California at Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA

    Shelly Grabe

  3. Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Tiffany Lu

  4. Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Bixby Center for Reproductive Health, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Abbey Hatcher

  5. Center for Microbiology Research, Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), Kisumu, Kenya

    Zachary Kwena & Elizabeth Bukusi

  6. GROOTS-Kenya, PO Box 10320-GPO, Nairobi, Kenya

    Esther Mwaura-Muiru

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  1. Shari L. Dworkin
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Correspondence to Shari L. Dworkin.

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Dworkin, S.L., Grabe, S., Lu, T. et al. Property Rights Violations as a Structural Driver of Women’s HIV Risks: A Qualitative Study in Nyanza and Western Provinces, Kenya. Arch Sex Behav 42, 703–713 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-012-0024-6

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