Health

Citation:

Scheffler, Sabine, and Agnes Müchele. 1999. “War, Life Crisis and Trauma: Assessing the Impact of a Woman-Centered Training Program in Bosnia.” Women & Therapy 22 (1): 121-38.

Authors: Sabine Scheffler, Agnes Müchele

Abstract:

This article presents a woman-centered approach to healing that is necessitated by trauma inflicted by armed conflict. The authors present a historical context within which they depict many of the daily consequences that citizens experienced. A training program was developed during a trip to Bosnia in which sixteen women, among whom were social workers, psychologists, physicians, teachers and one Islamic theologian, participated. This program was comprised of five training modules: introduction to basic concepts and issues, the social psychology of war, the counseling process and techniques, social work in a wartime environment, and termination.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Ethnic/Communal Wars, Gender, Women, Health, Trauma Regions: Europe, Balkans, Eastern Europe Countries: Bosnia & Herzegovina

Year: 1999

Citation:

Kottegoda, Sepali, Kumudini Samuel, and Sarala Emmanuel. 2008. “Reproductive Health Concerns in Six Conflict-Affected Areas of Sri Lanka.” Reproductive Health Matters 16 (31): 75–82.

Authors: Sepali Kottegoda, Kumudini Samuel , Sarala Emmanuel

Abstract:

This article draws on a study conducted by the Women and Media Collective between 2004 and 2005 to highlight some of the reproductive health concerns of women from Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim ethnic groups, living in situations of conflict in Sri Lanka. The study focused on women from six conflict-affected areas in the north and east of the country: Jaffna (Northern Province), Mannar and Puttalam (North-Western Province), Polonnaruwa (North-Central Province), Batticaloa and Ampara (Eastern Province). Higher levels of poverty, higher rates of school drop-out, low pay and precarious access to work, mainly in the informal sector, higher rates of early marriage, pregnancy and home births, higher levels of maternal mortality and lower levels of contraceptive use were found. Economic, social and physical insecurity were key to these phenomena. Physically and psychologically, women were at a high risk of sexual and physical violence, mainly from their partners/spouses but also from family members, often related to dowry. The article brings out the voices of women whose lives have been overshadowed by conflict and displacement, and the nature of structural barriers that impede their right to health care services, to make informed decisions about their lives and live free of familial violence.

Keywords: conflict and crisis settings, maternity services, contraception and unwanted pregnancy, gender-based violence, Sri Lanka

Topics: Armed Conflict, Displacement & Migration, Gender, Women, Gender-Based Violence, Health, Mental Health, Reproductive Health, Sexual Violence, SV against Women Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: Sri Lanka

Year: 2008

Citation:

Barker, Gary, and Christine Ricardo. 2005. "Young Men and the Construction of Masculinity in Sub-Saharan Africa: Implications for HIV/AIDS, Conflict, and Violence." Working Paper, Conflict Prevention and Reconstruction, World Bank, Washington, DC.

Authors: Gary Barker, Christine Ricardo

Abstract:

In the literature on conflict and HIV/AIDS, African men are often presented in simplistic and explicitly negative terms. It is generally taken for granted that those who use weapons are men whilst those who suffer the consequences of conflict are women, and that men always hold power in sexual relationships whilst women are always powerless. Certainly, African women and girls have been made vulnerable by the behaviour of men and boys in conflict settings and in sexual relationships. Yet the fact that gender hierarchies also oppress some men is seldom discussed. What of the men who are survivors and victims of violence, or who are displaced or orphaned due to conflict? What of the men who are brothers or husbands of women who have been sexually abused during conflict? This paper argues that applying a more sophisticated gender analysis as it relates to conflict and HIV/AIDS is essential in order to understand how both women and men are made vulnerable by rigid ideas of masculinity and by gender hierarchies. References are made to alternative, non-violent forms of masculinity in Africa and to elements of traditional gender socialisation (the process by which individuals learn and teach others about the roles and behaviours that are expected of a women or man in a given society) which promote more gender-equitable attitudes on the part of young men. Included are examples of young men whose stories reveal ways in which men can question and counter prevailing norms of masculinity. A summary is also provided of promising programmes for including men in the promotion of gender-equity.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Gender, Men, Masculinity/ies, Gender Roles, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Hierarchies, Gender Equity, Health, HIV/AIDS, Sexual Violence, Violence Regions: Africa

Year: 2005

Citation:

Kimerling, Rachel, Amy E. Street, Kristian Gima, and Mark W. Smith. 2008. “Evaluation of Universal Screening for Military-Related Sexual Trauma.” Psychiatric Services 59 (6): 635–40.

Authors: Rachel Kimerling, Amy E. Street, Kristian Gima, Mark W. Smith

Abstract:

 In response to growing concerns about sexual violence as an underrecognized traumatic consequence of military service, Veterans Health Administration policy requires universal screening for sexual trauma sustained during military service. This prospective study, the first to evaluate national efforts to screen for military sexual trauma, investigated whether sexual trauma screening is associated with increased utilization of mental health services. This study examined data for all male (N=540,381) and female (N=33,259) veterans who had valid responses to screens for military sexual trauma in 2005. The use of mental health services during the three months after screening was examined for persons who screened positive for military sexual trauma and for those who screened negative. Findings were stratified by use of mental health services in the six months before the screening. Compared with negative screens, positive screens were associated with significantly increased rates of postscreen mental health treatment. A more than twofold increase was observed for patients without previous use of mental health treatment (women: relative risk [RR]=2.52, 95% confidence interval [CI]= 2.38-2.66; men: RR=2.47, 95% CI=2.34-2.61). In this group, the number of positive screens needed for one additional patient to access treatment was 5.5 for women and 7.2 for men.  Our findings suggest that detection via screening is associated with increased rates of mental health treatment. An effective screening program that promotes detection of sexual trauma and access to mental health care can help to reduce the burden of psychiatric illness for those who have experienced military sexual trauma.

Topics: Health, Mental Health, Trauma, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, Sexual Violence Regions: Americas, North America Countries: United States of America

Year: 2008

Citation:

MacDonald, P., and M. E. Stanton. 2007. “USAID Program for the Prevention and Treatment of Vaginal Fistula.” Prevention and Treatment of Obstetric Fistula: Identifying Research Needs and Public Health Priorities 99 (Supplement 1): 112–16.

Authors: P. MacDonald, M. E. Stanton

Abstract:

The cornerstone of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) fistula program is to support and strengthen local capacity for fistula repair. The USAID program includes support to upgrade facilities, enhance local surgical repair capability, allocate equipment and supplies to operating rooms, implement quality improvement systems, and cover the women's transportation costs to and from the treatment facilities. The program also offers training in clinical and counseling skills; transferring skills South-to-South; and monitoring and evaluating the program's effectiveness. As new fistula cases continually increase the backlog of untreated cases, its efforts are also directed toward the prevention of fistula and the reintegration of treated women into their communities. Furthermore, the program challenges the culture of sexual violence against women that leads to traumatic gynecologic fistulas.

Topics: Gender, Women, Gender-Based Violence, Health, Reproductive Health, International Organizations, Sexual Violence, SV against Women

Year: 2007

Citation:

Igreja, Victor, Béatrice Dias-Lambranca, and Annemiek Richters. 2008. “Gamba Spirits, Gender Relations and Healing in Post-Civil War Gorongosa, Mozambique.” The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 14 (2): 353-71.

Authors: Victor Igreja, Béatrice Dias-Lambranca, Annemiek Richters

Abstract:

This article describes the ways in which in post-civil war Gorongosa (Central Mozambique), women (and occasionally men) with personal and/or family experiences of extreme suffering are the focalpoint of possession by male, war-related spirits named gamba. However, gamba spirits also create post-war healing in which memory work and gender politics play an essential role. This type ofpost-war healing is demonstrated through a secret, contractual ceremony in which a male living suitor demands permission from a gamba spirit, lodged in the body of a young woman (his deemed wife), to marry that woman. An account of the ceremony is preceded by a description of the conditions that gave rise to the emergence of gamba spirits in central Mozambique, and is followed by an analysis of the meaning of the voice of the spirit and its impact on the relation between the living husband and wife and, more generally, on Gorongosa post-war society. We argue that the performance of gamba spirits contributes to a certain form of moral renewal. In the process, we locate relationships between spirits and hosts within wider systems of meaning in which they arecreated and reproduced, and we reinforce approaches to possession that see it as constituted by ‘apractice and politics of voice’ (Lambek).

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Gender, Women, Men, Health, Trauma, Households, Humanitarian Assistance, Context-Appropriate Response to Trauma, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction Regions: Africa, Southern Africa Countries: Mozambique

Year: 2008

Citation:

Elbe, Stefan. 2002. “HIV/AIDS and the Changing Landscape of War in Africa.” International Security 27 (2): 159–77.

Author: Stefan Elbe

Topics: Armed Conflict, Health, HIV/AIDS Regions: Africa

Year: 2002

Citation:

Summerfield, Derek. 1991. “The Psychosocial Effects of Conflict in the Third World.” Development in Practice 1 (3): 159–73.

Author: Derek Summerfield

Abstract:

In current armed conflicts around the world, over 90 per cent of casualties are civilians. This article reviews medical and anthropological evidence of the psychosocial effects of extreme experiences such as torture, mutilation, rape, and the violent displacement of communities. The consequences for women and children are considered in particular. The author argues that the social development programmes of non-governmental development organisations should be extended to support social networks and institutions in areas of conflict, and ends by giving guidelines for mental health promoters working in traumatised communities.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Development, Displacement & Migration, Gender, Women, Girls, Boys, Gender-Based Violence, Health, Mental Health, Sexual Violence, Rape, Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, Torture

Year: 1991

Citation:

Hanlon, Haleigh. 2008. “Implications for Health Care Practice and Improved Policies for Victims of Sexual Violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo.” Journal of International Women’s Studies 10 (2): 64–72.

Author: Haleigh Hanlon

Abstract:

As violent conflict ravages the Democratic Republic of Congo, thousands of women and girls are victims of sexual violence. Unfortunately, there are few services available to this population. While the exact number of victims is uncertain, the available data indicate the large scale of women and girls affected by sexual violence, and the urgent need for aid, services, and better policies to improve care. This humanitarian crisis is slowly gaining Western attention, but the current demand for humanitarian action and improved policies is greatest in the following three categories which will be addressed in the body of the work below: (1) an increase in humanitarian aid, (2) medical assistance, and (3) social support.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Gender, Women, Girls, Health, Humanitarian Assistance, Sexual Violence, Male Perpetrators, SV against Women Regions: Africa, Central Africa Countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo

Year: 2008

Citation:

Al-Khatib, Issam A, Rania N Arafat, and Mohamed Musmar. 2005. “Housing Environment and Women’s Health in a Palestinian Refugee Camp.” International Journal of Environmental Health Research 15 (3): 181-91.

Authors: Issam A Al-Khatib, Rania N Arafat, Mohamed Musmar

Abstract:

This study was carried out during January and February 2002 in Al- Ein Refugee Camp in Nablus city in Palestine. Interviews were held with 150 women of different age groups and different marital status. The results show a positive relationship between women’s physical and mental health and housing conditions. There is a statistically significant relationship between the family size represented by the number of children in the household, the number of children that sleep in one room, and the number of children that sleep in one bed, the house size, and number of rooms and women’s feeling of privacy (mental health and well-being). Most of the houses in the camp are unhealthy and overcrowded. The family income is very low and there is a general poor health status of women in the camp. Most of the women do not know the conditions of a healthy house. The study shows the importance of housing reforms on the health of the family in general and women’s health in particular, mainly in refugee camps.

Topics: Refugees, Refugee/IDP Camps, Economies, Gender, Women, Health, Mental Health, Households Regions: MENA, Asia, Middle East Countries: Palestine / Occupied Palestinian Territories

Year: 2005