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Intimate partner violence (IPV) poses a public health burden, yet few studies have assessed co-existence of physical, emotional, and sexual IPV among adolescents. We assessed recent IPV victimization and associated factors and described IPV patterns and perpetrators among young people from urban slums in Kampala, Uganda. We conducted a prospective cohort study among 14 to 19-year-old individuals enrolled from March 2019 to March 2020 and followed quarterly for 12 months. We collected data on socio-demographics, sexual behavior, and substance use through interviews. Recent IPV victimization was documented at all visits if a participant reported experiencing physical, emotional, and/or sexual IPV in the past 3 months. Baseline factors associated with recent IPV victimization were determined using multivariable logistic regression. We enrolled 490 adolescents (60.6% female) with median age 18 years (Interquartile range (IQR) 17–18 years), 91.0% had less than secondary level education. Females mainly engaged in sex work (17.5%) and selling fruits/snacks (9.1%) while males commonly earned from sale of metal scrap or plastic waste (28.5%), 41% reported ≥10 life-time sexual partners, 16.1% were high-risk alcohol drinkers and 34.9% used illicit drugs in the past 3 months. Overall, 27.8% reported recent IPV victimization (20.0% females) with emotional IPV being common (17.8%). At baseline, recent IPV victimization was associated with high-risk alcohol consumption (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 2.57; 95% confidence interval [CI] [1.44, 4.58]), reported paid sex in the past 3 months (aOR 1.82; [1.02, 3.22]) and being separated (aOR 2.47; [1.29, 4.73]). Recent IPV victimization declined from baseline to month 9 and increased at month 12 visits which coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic. IPV victimization is high among young people living in urban slums with emotional IPV being prevalent. IPV interventions are needed and should also address excessive alcohol consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wiegratz, Jörg, Giuliano Martiniello, and Elisa Greco (eds) (2018), Uganda: The Dynamics of Neoliberal Transformation, London: Zed Books, ISBN 9781786991089, 391 pages Uganda has long been renowned as a "poster child" for the donor-sponsored policy reform agendas that took off in the 1980s and 1990s, from privatisation and economic liberalisation to decentralisation and deregulation. In offering an analysis of the manifold ways in which the neoliberal orientation has permeated policy, economy and society in Uganda, this book goes beyond standard analyses of neoliberal reforms - and does so by drawing in an impressive range of scholars. Moreover, these earlier collections in some respects described the remarkable changes and policy reforms that began to transform Uganda in the late 1980s and 1990s without the temporal distance to be able to critically reflect on them and their societal consequences. [Extracted from the article]

Violence is associated with health-risk behaviors, potentially contributing to gender-related HIV incidence disparities in sub-Saharan Africa. Previous research has demonstrated that violence, gender, and HIV are linked via complex mechanisms that may be direct, such as through forced sex, or indirect, such as an inability to negotiate safe sex. Accurately estimating violence prevalence and its association with HIV is critical in monitoring programmatic efforts to reduce both violence and HIV. We compared prevalence estimates of violence in youth aged 15–24 years from two Ugandan population-based cross-sectional household surveys (Uganda Violence Against Children Survey 2015 [VACS] and Uganda Population-based HIV Impact Assessment 2016–2017 [UPHIA]), stratified by gender. UPHIA violence estimates were consistently lower than VACS estimates, including lifetime physical violence, recent intimate partner physical violence, and lifetime sexual violence, likely reflecting underestimation of violence in UPHIA. Multiple factors likely contributed to these differences, including the survey objectives, interviewer training, and questionnaire structure. VACS may be better suited to estimate distal determinants of HIV acquisition for youth (including experience of violence) than UPHIA, which is crucial for monitoring progress toward HIV epidemic control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thousands of children have been born of conflict-related rape within armed groups, eventually being integrated into civilian life. Yet, little is known about the ways in which captivity and reintegration into society following armed conflict impinge upon young people's identity formation. This study explored the life stories of children and youth born of conflict-related sexual violence within the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) as a means to investigate identity formation. Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with 79 children and youth (age range 12–22 years old) born in LRA captivity in northern Uganda. Inductive forms of data analysis were used, whereby through coding of transcripts the researchers identified key themes that were emerging from the data. Participants' narratives highlight the ways in which their childhoods were characterized by militarized identities as informed by the context of captivity and armed conflict. The transition to civilian life accompanied a significant shift in participants' conception of self, which was negatively affected by experiences of post-war identity stigmatization, and yet encompassed a self-narrative that rejected violence as part of their present and future lives. Psychosocial programs should take these findings into account in order to support the reintegration of children and youth who have experienced wartime captivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The SAVA syndemic is frequently used to describe the co-occurrence of HIV, gender-based violence (GBV), and substance use. In this study we determine the extent to which the typologies of the SAVA syndemic can be described and utilized for intervention strategies among youth living in the slums of Kampala, Uganda. We analyzed the "Kampala Youth Survey 2014," a cross-sectional survey conducted in the spring of 2014, consisting of a convenience sample (N = 1134) of urban youth (12–18 years of age). Descriptive statistics were computed for hypothesized risk factors and demographic variables among the 8 typologies of GBV, HIV, and alcohol use. Multinomial logistic regression was conducted to determine statistically significant correlates with each typology. The overall prevalence of GBV was 31.7%, whereas the overall prevalence of alcohol use in the past 12 months was 31.2%. HIV-Positive youth comprised 10.5% of the total sample. Females comprised the majority of the typology with no SAVA components compared to males (55% vs. 45%, respectively), as well as the SAVA syndemic typology (GBV + HIV + ALC +) (58% vs. 42%, respectively). Engaging in commercial sex work (36%), witnessing parental abuse (61%), and depression/suicidality (81%) were all highly prevalent among youth in the SAVA syndemic typology (GBV, HIV, and alcohol use). Sex work and observing parental abuse were associated with the SAVA syndemic typology in the multivariable model. In our study, alcohol rarely coexisted without GBV among the typologies. Therefore, prevention efforts including structural interventions may be particularly warranted in vulnerable populations to address alcohol use, which may directly or indirectly impact GBV and HIV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The youth has and continues to play a central role in various violent conflicts in Uganda. However, the majority of the youth does not participate in violence. This article explores factors that the youth utilises to respond to exclusion, discrimination and injustice without violence. Basing the research on grounded theory, a comparative study of participants from the Kampala and Jinja districts was conducted. Data was collected through interviews, focus group discussions and document reviews, and data analysis was conducted through open coding, axial coding, and selective coding to delineate explanations of the research problem. The findings revealed that the pursuit of self-advancement influenced the youth's preference for non-violence to respond to exclusion, discrimination and injustice. Variations in the identity and cultural practices among victims of exclusion, discrimination and injustice notwithstanding, a range of internal and external factors combined to foster resilience and adaptation as responses to adversity among the youth who did not fight. During this process, resilience was not maintained as an end in itself but as a response undertaken to protect and pursue opportunities and pathways crafted towards self-advancement, especially of the individual and the family. Proactive action, self-regulation, problem-solving and the setting of clear expectations were found to be internal factors that facilitated resilience processes among those who did not fight. Positive peer influences, family environment, relationships with adults, education, groups and organisations that supported intellectual, emotional, moral, and behavioural competencies were some of the external factors that enabled victims of exclusion, discrimination and injustice to remain optimistic and to cope with adverse conditions. These factors can be cultivated among the youth through a range of national and community-level policies and programmes to promote nonviolence and reduce youth participation in violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines problem drinking, alcohol-related violence, and homelessness among youth living in the slums of Kampala&mdash;an understudied population at high-risk for both alcohol use and violence. This study is based on a cross-sectional survey conducted in 2014 with youth living in the slums and streets of Kampala, Uganda ( n = 1134), who were attending Uganda Youth Development Link drop-in centers. The analyses for this paper were restricted to youth who reported current alcohol consumption ( n = 346). Problem drinking patterns were assessed among youth involved in alcohol-related violence. Mediation analyses were conducted to examine the impact of homelessness on alcohol-related violence through different measures of problem drinking. Nearly 46% of youth who consumed alcohol were involved in alcohol-related violence. Problem drinkers were more likely to report getting in an accident (&chi;² = 6.8, df = 1, p = 0.009), having serious problems with parents (&chi;² = 21.1, df = 1, p < 0.0001) and friends (&chi;² = 18.2, df = 1, p < 0.0001), being a victim of robbery (&chi;² = 8.8, df = 1, p = 0.003), and going to a hospital (&chi;² = 15.6, df = 1, p < 0.0001). For the mediation analyses, statistically significant models were observed for frequent drinking, heavy drinking, and drunkenness. Interventions should focus on delaying and reducing alcohol use in this high-risk population.