Young injection drug use involved women's exposure to intimate partner abuse

Evidence suggests that young, poor or homeless women are at increased risk for intimate partner abuse. Previous studies have shown that women associated with injection drug use culture also report higher exposure to lifetime violence. However, we know little about their intimate relationships with respect to this issue. It was therefore our objective to determine factors associated with intimate partner abuse among young injection drug use involved women. Participants (N = 126) were recruited from the streets of Southern California. The women were assessed for lifetime history of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse by persons with whom they had had intimate relationships. While regression analyses clearly show that those who report intimate violence experiences are also likely to have experienced a wide variety of past and current violence, analyses revealed risk patterns for different kinds of intimate partner violence. Those at highest compound risk (i.e. those who experience emotional, physical and sexual intimate partner violence) also were more likely to have a history of childhood sexual abuse (self or other child in home), depression, sexual and/or physical assault by a stranger, suicidality and multiple partners (more than 4) in the past year. Surprisingly, in this cohort identified around injection drug use, only physical intimate partner violence was related to injection drug use. Community-based clinics serving these populations should be aware of these patterns and address the issue of intimate partner violence, recognizing the complexity inherent in the intersection of drug use, relationships and risk of violence.