It’s Not Just the Alcohol: Gender, Alcohol Use, and Intimate Partner Violence in Mae La Refugee Camp, Thailand, 2009

Citation:

Ezard, Nadine. 2014. “It’s Not Just the Alcohol: Gender, Alcohol Use, and Intimate Partner Violence in Mae La Refugee Camp, Thailand, 2009.” Substance Use & Misuse 49 (6): 684–93

Author: Nadine Ezard

Abstract:

Alcohol use is common in many conflict-displaced populations; population perspectives of alcohol use have not been well studied. Interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of 97 people (September–December 2009) in Mae La, a longstanding refugee camp on the Thai-Burma border, and analyzed thematically. Intimate partner violence (IPV) emerged as a prominent theme, with four subthemes: alcohol use is subject to strongly gendered social controls; alcohol use is changing under the pressures of displacement; IPV is an emergent alcohol-related harm; the relationship between IPV and alcohol is complex. The study’s limitations are noted, and future practice and research directions are discussed.

Keywords: Intimate partner violence, refugee, displaced populations, alcohol, conflict, violence against women, Thailand-Burma border, substance use, qualitative research, gender

Topics: Armed Conflict, Displacement & Migration, Refugees, Refugee/IDP Camps, Domestic Violence, Gender, Gendered Power Relations, Health, Violence Regions: Asia, Southeast Asia Countries: Thailand

Year: 2014

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