| Intimate partner violence (IPV) and HIV treatment intersect as synergistic vulnerabilities for women. This study examines how women in two regions of Uganda live with and respond to both issues in the context of globalization, including the perspectives of policy makers, service providers, and HIV positive women. Women in Uganda have few formal means of dealing with IPV, and even where services are available, they may choose not to seek help or disrupt their relationships. Most women who seek help do so informally, through family or local and religious leaders. Providers also have limited ability to assist women because of a lack of resources and the limited legal sanctions available. Legal sanctions for responding to women's needs are in transition, but currently limited in their effectiveness.;All of the women in this study are already living with HIV and enrolled in treatment. Those who face or have experienced violence are faced with another set of challenges. IPV frequently occurs in conjunction with economic difficulties, alcohol use, and polygamous marital practices within a home. Women only have legal rights for maintenance in formal marriages, but many are in informal or polygamous partnerships.;Women in this study are part of an emerging era of HIV, in which HIV can be lived with as a chronic disease. Globalization impacts their daily experiences through the availability of life-saving treatment. In this context women's concerns are frequently outside the purview of health. They have a previously unknown luxury of being able to "not worry" on a daily basis about maintaining their health. Economic concerns are of the utmost importance and when women are deprived of resources from their partners in acts of economic violence they are more likely to seek assistance than when experiencing physical or sexual violence.;This work contributes to the anthropological literature on globalization and health, HIV, and IPV. Women's experiences of both HIV and intimate partner violence in the Ugandan context are mitigated by global processes, local politics, service provision, cultural ideologies and interpersonal relationships. |
