Box 2. Testing positive for HPV.

Reactions to results
‘After the initial shock you will wonder how and when it happened and was it before your marriage?’
‘It would reassure me I suppose, if I hadn’t had it done, I wouldn’t know if I’d got it and it could be another 3–4 years before I had my smear done. So I’m closer to having treatment’
Trust
‘I will mistrust my husband’
‘It makes you suspicious of him’
Blame
‘You will feel like killing him’
‘If I tested positive, I would worry who I had slept with’
‘My husband will deny giving it to me and will accuse me of sleeping with someone else’
Test of fidelity
‘If my partner was cheating on me he would discourage me [from being tested]’
‘This will be a good way of testing how much they [husbands] care about us’
Protection
‘We will need to protect ourselves’
‘My husband will get angry if I ask him to wear condoms. He will think I am doubting him’