Exploring the Experiences of Gender-Based Violence
and The Associated Psychosocial and Mental Health
Issues of Filipino HIV-Positives: Implications for
Psychological Practice
Evangeline R Castronuevo-Ruga1, Normita A Atrillano2
Abstract: The phenomenon of gender-based violence has generated attention from research practitioners and helping professionals since
the surge of the women’s movement three or so decades ago in the Philippines. At about the same time, the HIV-AIDS gained similar
attention with the disclosure of the first ever case of the country in the mid-80s. Only recently, however, has the intersectionality of these
two phenomena been looked into by the research community in other countries and has yet to see parallel response locally. This research,
therefore, attempts to map out the lived experiences of People Living with Human Immuno Deficiency Virus (PLHIV) who have undergone
gender-based violence (GBV). It specially looks into the consequent psychosocial and mental health issues. Using focus group discussion with
24 purposively sampled participants from the highly vulnerable groups based in three major Philippine cities, thematic analysis reveals that
the participants experienced various forms of gender-based violence, e.g., sexual, emotional/psychological, economic, verbal, physical) and
expressions of stigma and discrimination, which in turn, led to manifestations of different emotional and psychological trauma, depression,
internalized homophobia, greater health risks and risk-taking behaviours, among others. It might be worthwhile to consider the possibility
that the consequent risk-taking and self-injurious tendencies played a role in their eventual contraction of HIV.

Estimation of Storage-Draft Rate Characteristics of
Rivers in Selangor Region
Farah Syazana Abd Latif1, Siti Fatin Mohd Razali2
1,2Faculty of Engineering & Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
Abstract: Drought is a phenomenon of extreme water shortage that has significant economic, social, environmental and human life
impact. Streamflow drought characteristics and properties are useful in the design of hydro-technical projects, water resources planning and
management purposes. Information on low flow magnitude, frequency, probability and return period are very crucial in analysing
streamflow drought at the operational level in public water supply. The objectives of this study are to determine the characteristics of low
flow for every streamflow station in the Selangor region. The estimation of minimum storage draft-rate with the probability of low flow
return periods of 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 years is presented in this paper.