Kyaterekera Project

Principal Investigator: Fred M. Ssewamala, PhD; Susan Witte, PhD (Columbia University)

Project Team Members: Ozge Sensoy Bahar, PhD; Larissa Jennings, PhD (University of Carolina at Chapel Hill); Joseph Kagaayi, PhD (Rakai Health Sciences Program); Proscovia Nabunya, PhD; Yesim Tozan, PhD (New York University)

Field Coordinators: Edward Nsubuga

Research Collaborators: Abel Mwebembezi (Reach the Youth-Uganda)

Kyaterekera Project: A Combination Intervention Addressing Sexual Risk-Taking Behaviors among Vulnerable Women in Uganda, is a 5-year longitudinal study (2018-2023) funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Using a randomized clinical trial, it examines the impact of and costs associated with Kyaterekera, an innovative combination intervention that adds economic empowerment components to traditional HIV risk reduction sessions to reduce new incidence of sexually transmitted infections and HIV among female sex workers in the greater Masaka region and provide alternative means of safe and sustainable income to replace sex work.

Kyaterekera Study Publications

Sensoy Bahar, O., Nabunya, P., Nabayinda, J., Witte, S. S., Kiyingi, J., Mayo-Wilson, L. J., Filippone, P., Yang, L. S., Nakigudde, J., Tozan, Y., & Ssewamala, F. M. (2022). “I expected little, although I learned a lot”: perceived benefits of participating in HIV risk reduction sessions among women engaged in sex work in Uganda. BMC women’s health, 22(1), 162. PubMed

Jennings Mayo-Wilson, L., Yen, B. J., Nabunya, P., Bahar, O. S., Wright, B. N., Kiyingi, J., Filippone, P. L., Mwebembezi, A., Kagaayi, J., Tozan, Y., Nabayinda, J., Witte, S. S., & Ssewamala, F. M. (2022). Economic Abuse and Care-seeking Practices for HIV and Financial Support Services in Women Employed by Sex Work: A Cross-Sectional Baseline Assessment of a Clinical Trial Cohort in Uganda. Journal of interpersonal violence, 8862605221093680. Advance online publication. PubMed.

Witte, S. S., Filippone, P., Ssewamala, F. M., Nabunya, P., Bahar, O. S., Mayo-Wilson, L. J., Namuwonge, F., Damulira, C., Tozan, Y., Kiyingi, J., Nabayinda, J., Mwebembezi, A., Kagaayi, J., & McKay, M. (2022). PrEP acceptability and initiation among women engaged in sex work in Uganda: Implications for HIV prevention. EClinicalMedicine, 44, 101278. Science Direct

Nabunya ,P., Kiyingi, J., Witte, S. S., Sensoy Bahar, O., Jennings Mayo-Wilson, L., Tozan, Y., Nabayinda, J., Mwebembezi, A., Tumwesige, W., Mukasa, B., Namirembe, R., Kagaayi, J., Nakigudde, J., McKay, M. M., & Ssewamala, F. M. (2021). Working with economically vulnerable women engaged in sex work: Collaborating with community stakeholders in Southern Uganda. Global Public Health 1-7 Global Public Health

Nabunya, P., Byansi, W., Damulira, C., Sensoy Bahar, O., Jennings Mayo-Wilson, L., Tozan, Y., Kiyingi, J., Nabayinda, J., Brathwaite, R., Witte, S. S., Ssewamala, F. M. (2021). Predictors of depressive symptoms and post-traumatic stress disorder among women engaged in commercial sex work in southern Uganda. Psychiatry Research. ScienceDirect

Ssewamala, F. M., Bahar, O. S., Tozan, Y., Nabunya, P., Mayo-Wilson, L. J., Kiyingi, J., … & Witte, S. S. (2019). A combination intervention addressing sexual risk-taking behaviors among vulnerable women in Uganda: study protocol for a cluster randomized clinical trial. BMC Women’s Health, 19(1), 111. Springer