Intimate partner sexual abuse among women on methadone

This article reports findings on the prevalence and correlates of intimate partner sexual abuse (using the Revised Conflict Tactics Scale) among a sample of women in methadone treatment in New York City. Results indicate that, during the course of the intimate relationship, approximately 15% of women had experienced intimate partner sexual assault and 47% were sexually assaulted and/or coerced. Nine percent had experienced intimate partner sexual assault and 38% intimate partner sexual coercion in the past year of the relationship. Bivariate analyses revealed that women who were sexually abused in the 12 months prior to the interview tended also to be physically abused by intimate partners. Women who were unemployed, poor, crack-cocaine or injecting-drug users, and were physically and/or sexually abused as children, were at increased risk of experiencing intimate partner sexual abuse in adulthood. In multivariate models, only extreme poverty and sexual abuse in childhood emerged as risk factors for intimate partner sexual abuse in adulthood.