Russia that might have potentially changed our findings or conclusions. A study conducted before and after the 2011 police reforms in Russia did not observe major organizational culture changes in the police system [28]. While human rights groups have reported on the issue for some time, our findings suggest that police sexual violence represents an underappreciated human rights and public health problem. As in many settings, women affected by sexual violence in Russia can be highly stigmatized. This study’s qualitative findings indicate that this stigmatization is much more likely for women who use drugs and/or have HIV. Concealment of sexual violence from police by affected women because of the associated stigma limits awareness about this health and human rights problem, even among male peer PWID and domestic and international organizations. This lack of awareness perpetuates the vicious cycle of vulnerability and victimization. In this complex context, several stigma identities related to HIV infection, drug use and sex work might interact. To mitigate these adversities, raising social awareness and empowering affected women might strengthen their resilience and protect them from violence. The larger restrictive drug policy environment and structural factors such as lack of accountability, criminalization of drug use and sex work that create the ground for discrimination and sexual violence, even when not perceived as such, urgently require larger reforms [29?0]. Not only female victims are exposed to risks. Police officers who have sex with HIV-positive women expose themselves and their sexual partners to an increased risk of HIV transmission. Sexual violence from police against women, assessed in US drug courts, involved unprotected sex in for almost half of the women (49 ) [26]. Police CPI-455 structure training needs to raise awareness for victims’ human rights violations and traumatization, and also for HIV risks for perpetrators. Framing HIV risks in an occupational health context has been shown to increase risk awareness in the United States and Kyrgyzstan [32?3].ConclusionsSexual violence perpetrated by police against women who inject drugs in this cohort of HIV-positive Russians is unacceptable and warrants further study and intervention. Taken together, quantitative and qualitative data suggest a potentially pervasive sexual violence by police against women who inject drugs that is largely CPI-455MedChemExpress CPI-455 unrecognized by male PWID and others who are not directly affected. In this study of HIV-positive women with current IDU, sexual violence from police was associated with more frequent IDU. These findings implicate sexual violence as adding to the risk environment of HIV-positive women who inject drugs. Sexual violence from police represents an under-recognized human rights and public health problem, and policy efforts reacting to this evidence are urgently needed. These forms of sexual violence have far-reaching health and social consequences. Raising social awareness and calling and exposing episodes of sexual violence from police for the criminal and human rights offences that they are, are crucial to reengineering the culture that currently condones this. Furthermore, interventions are needed to build resilience among affected women, protect them from violence and reduce HIV transmission that follows from sexual violence from police.Authors’ affiliations 1 Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA; 2Division of Glob.Russia that might have potentially changed our findings or conclusions. A study conducted before and after the 2011 police reforms in Russia did not observe major organizational culture changes in the police system [28]. While human rights groups have reported on the issue for some time, our findings suggest that police sexual violence represents an underappreciated human rights and public health problem. As in many settings, women affected by sexual violence in Russia can be highly stigmatized. This study’s qualitative findings indicate that this stigmatization is much more likely for women who use drugs and/or have HIV. Concealment of sexual violence from police by affected women because of the associated stigma limits awareness about this health and human rights problem, even among male peer PWID and domestic and international organizations. This lack of awareness perpetuates the vicious cycle of vulnerability and victimization. In this complex context, several stigma identities related to HIV infection, drug use and sex work might interact. To mitigate these adversities, raising social awareness and empowering affected women might strengthen their resilience and protect them from violence. The larger restrictive drug policy environment and structural factors such as lack of accountability, criminalization of drug use and sex work that create the ground for discrimination and sexual violence, even when not perceived as such, urgently require larger reforms [29?0]. Not only female victims are exposed to risks. Police officers who have sex with HIV-positive women expose themselves and their sexual partners to an increased risk of HIV transmission. Sexual violence from police against women, assessed in US drug courts, involved unprotected sex in for almost half of the women (49 ) [26]. Police training needs to raise awareness for victims’ human rights violations and traumatization, and also for HIV risks for perpetrators. Framing HIV risks in an occupational health context has been shown to increase risk awareness in the United States and Kyrgyzstan [32?3].ConclusionsSexual violence perpetrated by police against women who inject drugs in this cohort of HIV-positive Russians is unacceptable and warrants further study and intervention. Taken together, quantitative and qualitative data suggest a potentially pervasive sexual violence by police against women who inject drugs that is largely unrecognized by male PWID and others who are not directly affected. In this study of HIV-positive women with current IDU, sexual violence from police was associated with more frequent IDU. These findings implicate sexual violence as adding to the risk environment of HIV-positive women who inject drugs. Sexual violence from police represents an under-recognized human rights and public health problem, and policy efforts reacting to this evidence are urgently needed. These forms of sexual violence have far-reaching health and social consequences. Raising social awareness and calling and exposing episodes of sexual violence from police for the criminal and human rights offences that they are, are crucial to reengineering the culture that currently condones this. Furthermore, interventions are needed to build resilience among affected women, protect them from violence and reduce HIV transmission that follows from sexual violence from police.Authors’ affiliations 1 Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA; 2Division of Glob.
