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Converging drivers of interpersonal violence: Findings from a qualitative study in post-hurricane Haiti
Abstract
Objective: Interpersonal violence affecting women and children is increasingly recognized as a public health priority in humanitarian emergencies. Yet, research and intervention efforts have been fragmented across gender-based violence and child protection sectors. Using data from the Transforming Households: Reducing Incidence of Violence in Emergencies (THRIVE) project, this study sought to qualitatively investigate the intersecting drivers of multiple forms of violence in Côteaux, Haiti, while obtaining insight on how these drivers may be influenced by a humanitarian emergency. Methods: This analysis used transcripts obtained using a photo elicitation approach over the course of three sessions per person. Thirty-six individuals participated in the study: eight adult females, ten adult males, eight adolescent females, ten adolescent males. Participants were given cameras to capture images related to family relationships, family safety, and changes to family dynamics due to Hurricane Matthew and its aftermath. In subsequent sessions, these photographs were used as prompts for qualitative interviews. Results: Multiple and converging drivers of interpersonal violence were identified including the accumulation of daily stressors, loss of power/control, learned behavior (intergenerational cycle of abuse), and inequitable gender norms, all of which were influenced by the humanitarian context caused by Hurricane Matthew. Conclusions: Our findings suggest multiple and converging drivers of violence may be exacerbated in times of crises, requiring interdisciplinary responses. In order to comprehensively address the drivers of violence, practitioners and policy makers should consider the needs of
individuals and their families holistically, integrating community-led, gender transformative efforts and positive parenting with basic needs provision.
... In comparing subgroups, the same study ound that children in orphanages ollowing Hurricane Matthew reported signifcantly ewer adverse childhood experiences than those living with their amilies, causing the authors to suggest orphanages created a sae and stable environment or children (ibid.). Another qualitative study showed how VAWC (Violence against Women and Children) ater Hurricane Matthew was triggered by an accumulation o daily stressors including economic adversity, ood insecurity or unemployment (Bermudez et al., 2019). Nearly all adult male and emale interviewees (n = 36) indicated these structural insecurities were detrimental to the well-being o their amily and their community (ibid). ...
... masculine ideas o dominance and control), in combination with capitalism and individualism, might either contribute to or inhibit action to mitigate the eects o EWEs (Nagel & Lies, 2022). How being unable to live up to hegemonic masculine ideals in the atermath o an EWE can increase GBV or IPV, due to increased stressors related to housing and income and the inability to protect and provide or the amily (Bermudez et al., 2019;Nguyen & Rydstrom, 2018;Parkinson, 2019). How intersecting inequalities related to class, race and masculinity render some men more vulnerable to the impacts o CC and ED (Khan et al., 2022). ...
... Existing literature points to three risks o VAC in relation to climate-induced mobility: within amilies, in camps and shelters, and because o separation rom caregivers. Concerning violence within amilies, evidence suggests domestic violence increases within amilies displaced ollowing EWEs, due to multiple pressures and psychological stress (Bartlett, 2008;Bermudez et al., 2019;Richards & Bradshaw, 2017). For example, grey literature on SSA shows that children can be placed at higher risk o neglect ollowing displacement due to additional economic pressures on their amilies (Aff et al., 2012;Sturridge et al., 2022). ...
Background: Only recently have research and policy begun to shine a light on the magnifying effects of EWEs (Extreme Weather Events) on children’s exposure to violence. However, the links between EWEs and VAC (Violence against Children) remain under-theorised, poorly understood and often unacknowledged in policy and practice.
Objective: Identify, synthesize and analyse available evidence on the central characteristics and factors influencing the relationship between VAC and EWEs.
Methods: We conducted an extensive scoping review of the literature (academic and grey) to identify existing research and gaps in knowledge. Using flexible and iteratively developed search terms enabled us to identify direct violence – physical, sexual and emotional – and structural violence, rooted in inequitable and unjust systems and institutions.
Results: The relationship between VAC and EWEs is linked to gender; climate-induced mobility or immobility; child labour; and health. We found that VAC can intensify during EWEs, but the nature of this relationship is contextually specific. The relationship between VAC and EWEs is rooted in historical injustices, global systems and structures, and therefore disproportionately affects those living in poverty.
Conclusion: Studies have uncovered how increasing social, economic and emotional pressures following EWEs increase children’s violence risk exposure. This may occur in their homes or in relief shelters. The violence may involve peers, or forms of hazardous labour that young people are compelled into because of the sudden need for families to rebuild or help make ends meet. More knowledge is needed to inform integrated, context-specific and culturally sensitive plans to better protect children from the consequences of EWEs.
... Several studies noted that storms increased community and/or household stress or exacerbated existing tensions, and this contributed to increased violence both generally (Bermudez et al., 2019;Nguyen, 2019), and specifically related to stressors of food insecurity (Bermudez et al., 2019;Luetke et al., 2020), poverty or financial insecurity (Bermudez et al., 2019;Luetke et al., 2020;Tanyag, 2018;True, 2013), and disruption of law and social order (Nguyen, 2019). GBV and poverty are interlinked, heightening women's vulnerability to GBV before, during, and after disasters (Rezwana & Pain, 2021). ...
... Several studies noted that storms increased community and/or household stress or exacerbated existing tensions, and this contributed to increased violence both generally (Bermudez et al., 2019;Nguyen, 2019), and specifically related to stressors of food insecurity (Bermudez et al., 2019;Luetke et al., 2020), poverty or financial insecurity (Bermudez et al., 2019;Luetke et al., 2020;Tanyag, 2018;True, 2013), and disruption of law and social order (Nguyen, 2019). GBV and poverty are interlinked, heightening women's vulnerability to GBV before, during, and after disasters (Rezwana & Pain, 2021). ...
... Several studies noted that storms increased community and/or household stress or exacerbated existing tensions, and this contributed to increased violence both generally (Bermudez et al., 2019;Nguyen, 2019), and specifically related to stressors of food insecurity (Bermudez et al., 2019;Luetke et al., 2020), poverty or financial insecurity (Bermudez et al., 2019;Luetke et al., 2020;Tanyag, 2018;True, 2013), and disruption of law and social order (Nguyen, 2019). GBV and poverty are interlinked, heightening women's vulnerability to GBV before, during, and after disasters (Rezwana & Pain, 2021). ...
There is growing attention to the ways in which climate change may affect sexual health, yet key knowledge gaps remain across global contexts and climate issues. In response, we conducted a scoping review to examine the literature on associations between climate change and sexual health. We searched five databases (May 2021, September 2022). We reviewed 3,183 non-duplicate records for inclusion; n = 83 articles met inclusion criteria. Of these articles, n = 30 focused on HIV and other STIs, n = 52 focused on sexual and gender-based violence (GBV), and n = 1 focused on comprehensive sexuality education. Thematic analysis revealed that hurricanes, drought, temperature variation, flooding, and storms may influence HIV outcomes among people with HIV by constraining access to antiretroviral treatment and worsening mental health. Climate change was associated with HIV/STI testing barriers and worsened economic conditions that elevated HIV exposure (e.g. transactional sex). Findings varied regarding associations between GBV with storms and drought, yet most studies examining flooding, extreme temperatures, and bushfires reported positive associations with GBV. Future climate change research can examine understudied sexual health domains and a range of climate-related issues (e.g. heat waves, deforestation) for their relevance to sexual health. Climate-resilient sexual health approaches can integrate extreme weather events into programming.
... Table 2 provides a summary of the 37 studies that met full inclusion criteria, including location, study design, sample size, sample characteristics including type of IPV and disaster type, and critical findings. Of the studies reviewed, 16 used cross-sectional design (Anastario et al., 2008;Buttell et al., 2021;Cannon et al., 2021;Epstein et al., 2020;Ferreira, Buttell, & Elmhurst, 2018;Harville et al., 2011;Holland et al., 2021;Jung et al., 2020;Krishnamurti et al., 2021;Larrance et al., 2007;Lauve-Moon & Ferreira, 2017;Molyneaux et al., 2020;Rai et al., 2021;Rung et al., 2016;Sakurai et al., 2017;Sharma & Khokhar, 2022), nine used qualitative methods (Bermudez et al., 2019;Fisher, 2010;Jenkins & Phillips, 2008;Memon, 2020;Parkinson, 2019;Parkinson & Zara, 2013;Sohrabizadeh, 2016;Yoshihama et al., 2019;Zara et al., 2016), five studies used longitudinal methods (Anastario et al., 2008;Gearhart et al., 2018;Rao, 2020;Tanoue et al., 2021;Zahran et al., 2009), four studies used pre/posttests (Buttell & Carney, 2009;Frasier et al., 2004;Muldoon et al., 2021;Weitzman & Behrman, 2016), two used mixed methods (McKinley et al., 2019;Wood et al., 2022), and one used both cross-sectional and longitudinal methods (Cools et al., 2020). ...
... Of the studies reviewed, 18 included only women (e.g., Anastario et al., 2008Anastario et al., , 2009Bermudez et al., 2019;Cools et al., 2020;Epstein et al., 2020;Fisher, 2010;Frasier et al., 2004;Harville et al., 2011;Jenkins & Phillips, 2008;Krishnamurti et al., 2021;Memon, 2020;Parkinson, 2019;Parkinson & Zara, 2013;Rai et al., 2021;Rung et al., 2016;Sakurai et al., 2017;Sohrabizadeh, 2016;Tanoue et al., 2021;Yoshihama et al., 2019), while 16 included men and women (e.g., Buttell & Carney, 2009;Buttell et al., 2021;Cannon et al., 2021;Ferreira, Buttell, & Elmhurst, 2018;Gearhart et al., 2018;Holland et al., 2021;Jung et al., 2020;Larrance et al., 2007;Lauve-Moon & Ferreira, 2017;McKinley et al., 2019;Molyneaux et al., 2020;Muldoon et al., 2021;Sharma & Khokhar, 2022;Weitzman & Behrman, 2016;Wood et al., 2022;Zahran et al., 2009), and one included only men (Zara et al., 2016). ...
... Of the studies reviewed, most investigated a single disaster with the majority of research looking into climate-related disasters (e.g., hurricanes, flooding, earthquakes, wildfire; n = 26). Of these, the most frequently studied disaster type was hurricanes and associated flooding, including Hurricane Katrina (Anastario et al., 2008(Anastario et al., , 2009Buttell & Carney, 2009;Harville et al., 2011;Jenkins & Phillips, 2008), as well as other hurricane events (Bermudez et al., 2019;Frasier et al., 2004;Larrance et al., 2007;McKinley et al., 2019). The second most frequently studied climate-related disaster was the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (Sakurai et al., 2017;Tanoue et al., 2021;Yoshihama et al., 2019). ...
Objective: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a widespread public health problem that affects an estimated one in three women globally. The increase in frequency and severity of disasters due to climate change is likely to worsen IPV globally due to disruptions to normal life and the stressors they create. To better understand the relationship between IPV and disasters and to support future research, we conducted a literature review to identify and synthesize research on IPV and disaster. Method: This research used a systematic literature approach, in which two independent reviewers screened 1,033 articles identified in searches of three databases (PsychInfo, PubMed, and Google Scholar). To be eligible for inclusion, articles were peer-reviewed, accessible in English, and focused on IPV in adult relationships after a climate-related, technological, or infectious disease disaster. Thirty-seven articles were included in the review. Results: Findings indicate that IPV likely increases after disaster. It is not clear which types of IPV (i.e., physical, emotional) are more likely to increase after disaster, with research demonstrating increases in physical, emotional, and sexual IPV in different research contexts. Findings also indicate IPV during disaster likely leads to increased depression and posttraumatic stress disorder. Conclusions: Future studies should include additional sociodemographic factors including race and ethnicity and sexual identity, as well as more measures of attendant consequences of IPV (i.e., lower resilience, higher stress).
... In comparing subgroups, the same study found that children who were in orphanages in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew reported significantly fewer adverse childhood experiences than those living with their families, which the authors suggest is due to orphanages in the setting creating a safe and stable environment for children (ibid.). Another qualitative study showed how Violence against Women and Children (VAWC) after Hurricane Matthew was triggered by an accumulation of daily stressors such as economic adversity, food insecurity or unemployment (Bermudez et al., 2019). Nearly all adult male and female interviewees (n=36) indicated these structural insecurities were detrimental to the well-being of their family and their community (ibid). ...
... For instance, research from Australia found that following the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires, homelessness and increased living in cramped conditions, in addition to feelings of grief and loss led -in part -to an increase in domestic violence immediately after the fires (Parkinson & Zara, 2013). Similarly, research following Hurricane Matthew in Haiti has shown that the loss of homes in subsequent floods led to an increase in daily stressors and feelings of loss of control at the family level, both of which resulted in heightened levels of VAC (Bermudez et al., 2019). While we cannot generalize from the above case studies in regard to climate related mobility, scholarship has largely established that parents who are generally under extreme pressure are also more likely to perpetrate violence on their children (e.g.: Geprägs et al., 2023;Whipple & Webster-Stratton, 1991). ...
... However, such hazards also directly impact children's mental health (Bermudez et al., 2019;Biswas et al., 2010;Sloand et al., 2017;Sriskandarajah et al., 2015). To give a few examples: after Hurricane Floyd in the Bahamas and United States, a study (Russoniello et al., 2002) conducted with a cohort of 218 children aged 9-12 years, found that 95% of the children experienced at least mild symptoms of PTSD, and 71% had symptoms that were moderate to very severe. ...
This scoping review of the literature explores the interlinkages between two pressing crises: violence against children (VAC) and climate change (CC) together with environmental degradation (ED). Only recently have research and policy begun to shine a light on the magnifying effect of CC on children’s exposure to violence, exploitation, and abuse, with the role of ED remaining under-explored. To spur academic and political movement in this area, our research aims to help establish the magnitude, direction, and pathways of the relationship between CC, ED, and VAC. We showcase the complexity of that relationship and illustrate, in the form of case studies, why context-specific approaches and more research are needed. Doing so, we cover five thematic areas: 1) Hazards and Disaster Risk Reduction, 2) Gender, 3) Im/mobility, 4) Child Labour and 5) Health. Taking all five thematic areas together, structural violence against children emerged as a cross-cutting theme, creating and reinforcing the conditions for multiple forms of VAC in the context of CC and ED.
... Although not the focus of this Review, we provide an overview with summary characteristics of the excluded studies exploring the effects of earthquakes, tsunamis, or unspecified natural disasters on GBV (n=26; appendix pp 27-32). Studies were done in more than 40 countries, including: the USA (n=9), [29][30][31][32][33][34][35]42,44 Bangladesh (n=7), 38,41,43,47,52,61,60 India (n=5), 45,48,56,57,59 the Philippines (n=4), 3,8,39,66 Australia (n=3), [63][64][65] Kenya (n=2), 49,58 Belize, 36 Fiji, 67 Haiti, 37 Indonesia, 66 Laos, 66 New Zealand, 40 Pakistan, 46 Peru, 50 Tanzania, 51 Vietnam, 39 and Spain. 62 Four studies included multiple (unspecified) countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia. ...
... 62 Four studies included multiple (unspecified) countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia. 57,53-55 20 publications were quantitative, [29][30][31][32][33]35,36,44,49,50,51,[53][54][55][56][57]59,[61][62][63] 15 were qualitative, 3,8,34,[37][38][39]42,45,47,48,58,60,64,65,67 and six were mixedmethods. 40,41,43,46,52,66 All quantitative studies were either cross-sectional or ecological, whereas qualitative studies used in-depth interviews (n=15), 3,8,[37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48]52 focus groups (n=7), 38,39,41,43,45,58,60 ethnographic observations (n=3), 38 ...
... 57,53-55 20 publications were quantitative, [29][30][31][32][33]35,36,44,49,50,51,[53][54][55][56][57]59,[61][62][63] 15 were qualitative, 3,8,34,[37][38][39]42,45,47,48,58,60,64,65,67 and six were mixedmethods. 40,41,43,46,52,66 All quantitative studies were either cross-sectional or ecological, whereas qualitative studies used in-depth interviews (n=15), 3,8,[37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48]52 focus groups (n=7), 38,39,41,43,45,58,60 ethnographic observations (n=3), 38 ...
The intensity and frequency of extreme weather and climate events are expected to increase due to anthropogenic climate change. This systematic review explores extreme events and their effect on gender-based violence (GBV) experienced by women, girls, and sexual and gender minorities. We searched ten databases until February, 2022. Grey literature was searched using the websites of key organisations working on GBV and Google. Quantitative studies were described narratively, whereas qualitative studies underwent thematic analysis. We identified 26 381 manuscripts. 41 studies were included exploring several types of extreme events (ie, storms, floods, droughts, heatwaves, and wildfires) and GBV (eg, sexual violence and harassment, physical violence, witch killing, early or forced marriage, and emotional violence). Studies were predominantly cross-sectional. Although most qualitative studies were of reasonable quality, most quantitative studies were of poor quality. Only one study included sexual and gender minorities. Most studies showed an increase in one or several GBV forms during or after extreme events, often related to economic instability, food insecurity, mental stress, disrupted infrastructure, increased exposure to men, tradition, and exacerbated gender inequality. These findings could have important implications for sexual-transformative and gender-transformative interventions, policies, and implementation. High-quality evidence from large, ethnographically diverse cohorts is essential to explore the effects and driving factors of GBV during and after extreme events.
... This increased their vulnerability to VAWG as they would not report or leave abusive partners. 60-62 64 65 68 For some survivors, enduring violence may be preferrable to losing the household's breadwinner, as this quote suggests 61 : I think this is the reason why women think twice before [reporting]. They see that they sentence the man for 10 years. ...
... Therefore, they don't make any complaints. (Male respondent; Bermudez et al. 61 ,Haiti) Poverty also drove some women to engage in transactional sex, while some employers took advantage of desperate, job-seeking women with sexual coercion in Bangladesh, Haiti and Sri Lanka. 60 61 70 Across South Asia and Iran, studies confirmed that forced early marriage or labour of young girls increased due to postdisaster poverty. ...
... 63 Increased substance abuse by men struggling with poor mental health was a risk factor for VAWG across many postdisaster settings. 61 64 65 67 74 Wives expressing disapproval of their husbands' use and money spent on alcohol and drugs was a scenario that triggered IPV in postdisaster Haiti and Viet Nam. 61 74 In Australian communities that suffered extreme tragedy and loss from bushfires, community-level empathy for traumatised men pressured women to not report abusive partners, while some survivors themselves felt compassion towards their partners and did not want to report IPV. ...
Introduction: Disasters triggered by climate and other natural hazards are increasing in frequency, severity and duration worldwide. Disasters disproportionately impact women and girls, with some evidence suggesting that violence against women and girls (VAWG) increases in disaster settings. Suggested risk factors for postdisaster VAWG include increased life stressors, failure of law enforcement, exposure to high-risk environments, exacerbation of existing gender inequalities and unequal social norms. We aim to systematically appraise the global literature on the association between disasters from natural hazards and VAWG.
Methods: We conducted a systematic review using the following databases: Embase, Global Health, Medline, PubMed and Social Policy and Practice and searched grey literature. We included quantitative, qualitative or mixed-methods studies published in English language that examined the association between disasters from natural hazards and VAWG. We summarised the findings using a narrative synthesis approach.
Results: Of 555 non-duplicate records, we included a total of 37 quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods studies. Among the quantitative studies, eight studies found a positive association between disaster exposure and increased VAWG, and four additional studies found positive associations with some violence types but not others. Qualitative findings offered insights into three hypothesised pathways: disaster exposure associated with (1) an increase of stressors that trigger VAWG; (2) an increase of enabling environments for VAWG and (3) an exacerbation of underlying drivers of VAWG.
Conclusion: As the first known global systematic review on the relationship between disasters from natural hazards and VAWG, this review contributes to the evidence base. We were limited by the quality of quantitative studies, specifically study designs, the measurement of variables and geographic scope. The severe health consequences of VAWG and increasing frequency of extreme events means that rigorously designed and better quality studies are needed to inform evidence-based policies and safeguard women and girls during and after disasters.
... 27 In humanitarian contexts, violence against adolescent girls might be insufficiently addressed because there is no clear division of labour between actors from the gender-based violence and child protection sectors. 19,[28][29][30] Programmes within each humanitarian sector often operate through their own conceptual frameworks, budgets, lead actors, legal frameworks, and terminologies. Although it might be beneficial to separate advocacy, programming, and funding streams for women and children, thoughtful attention is needed to ensure that (particularly older) adolescent girls are not overlooked in both sectors. ...
... 60 In emergency settings, in which economic stressors of all kinds abound, adolescent girls might be particularly at risk of violence. 30,61 Emergencies might lead to legal restrictions on employment and the reduced availability of jobs traditionally filled by men. In crises, women and girls often assume responsibility for income generation and decision making, which can threaten their husbands' or fathers' perceived masculinity and normative role as breadwinner. ...
... In crises, women and girls often assume responsibility for income generation and decision making, which can threaten their husbands' or fathers' perceived masculinity and normative role as breadwinner. 30,62 Evidence shows that in places where norms of male dominance are particularly strong, women and girls' economic empowerment might lead men to perpetrate violence as a means of re-establishing traditional gender and parental hierarchies. 12,63,64 ...
Adolescent girls face elevated risks of gender-based violence in humanitarian settings because of the intersectionality of age and gender, and the additional and exacerbated risk factors relevant to emergencies. Because there is no clear division of labour between the gender-based violence and child protection sectors, adolescent girls are often neglected by both groups, and violence against this subpopulation goes unaddressed. This Review presents an adapted ecological framework for gender-based violence risks facing adolescent girls in emergencies, synthesises the scant evidence for gender-based violence prevention and response, and identifies barriers to effective and ethical measurement and evaluation of programme effectiveness. Although nascent evidence highlights promising interventions for transforming girls' attitudes about violence and gender inequity and improving psychosocial and mental wellbeing, little evidence supports the ability of existing approaches to reduce gender-based violence incidence. A more explicit focus on adolescent girls is needed when designing and evaluating interventions to ensure global efforts to end gender-based violence are inclusive of this population.
Translations
For the Arabic, French and Spanish translations of the abstract see Supplementary Materials section.
... Similarly, little is known regarding prevalence rates after disaster by sociodemographic characteristics (e.g., gender, racial and ethnic minorities, sexual and gender minorities [SGMs]; e.g., Bermudez et al., 2019;Ferreira et al., 2018;Slick & Hertz, 2024;Zara et al., 2016). Research has found women may experience greater rates of IPV and, because of gender inequality, have increased risk factors (Slick & Hertz, 2024;Ullah et al., 2024). ...
... Research has found women may experience greater rates of IPV and, because of gender inequality, have increased risk factors (Slick & Hertz, 2024;Ullah et al., 2024). For example, Bermudez et al. (2019) found in their qualitative, photoelicitation study that feelings of loss of power and control and inequitable gender norms contributed to IPV after a disaster (i.e., Hurricane Andrew). ...
In this commentary for the special issue on the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, we trace where the field of disaster and intimate partner violence (IPV) research has gone since to guide future directions. Research on and after Hurricane Katrina opened the door for the study of the unique effects of disaster on IPV prevalence, characteristics, and interventions. This body of work suggests IPV, which includes physical, emotional, psychological, and economic abuse, and aggression, stalking, or sexual harm, by a current or former partner or spouse, likely increases in prevalence and severity after disaster. We have learned much since Hurricane Katrina made landfall 20 years ago. After reviewing the field, we offer insights into future directions, focusing on recovery and resilience, with policy implications for those suffering from surviving both disaster and IPV.
... Increases in VAW/C, have been found in the wake of natural disasters, including earthquakes, cyclones, hurricanes, wildfires and volcanic eruptions (Anastario, 2009;Bermudez et al., 2019;Castañeda Camey et al., 2020;IRC and GWI, 2015;Schwefer, 2018). For example, a study exploring effects of the 2010 Haiti earthquake found that two years after, women who lived in areas with higher earthquake devastation had higher levels of physical and sexual IPV, citing probable economic and social factors (Weitzman and Behrman, 2016). ...
... First, pandemics may result in the breakdown of societal infrastructure, similar to experiences in conflict and disaster-affected settings, as functional health, transport, food, sanitation, legal, security and other governance structures may temporarily contract or become dysfunctional (Briody et al., 2018). This may lead to increased exposure of women and children to unsafe and risky settings, including exposure to sexual violence and harassment during procurement of basic goods, including food, firewood, and water (Castañeda Camey et al., 2020;Bermudez et al. 2019;De Oliveiro et al., 2019;First et al., 2017;WRC, 2009). Lack of access for paid workers in some areas due to insecurity or bureaucratic constraints may further "displace" risk onto local staff and women in both formal and informal support roles. ...
Times of economic uncertainty, civil unrest, and disaster are linked to a myriad of risk factors for increased violence against women and children (VAW/C). Pandemics are no exception. In fact, the regional or global nature and associated fear and uncertainty associated with pandemics provide an enabling environment that may exacerbate or spark diverse forms of violence. Understanding mechanisms underlying these dynamics are important for crafting policy and program responses to mitigate adverse effects. Based on existing published and grey literature, we document nine main (direct and indirect) pathways linking pandemics and VAW/C, through effects of (on): (1) economic insecurity and poverty-related stress, (2) quarantines and social isolation, (3) disaster and conflict-related unrest and instability, (4) exposure to exploitative relationships due to changing demographics, (5) reduced health service availability and access to first responders, (6) inability of women to temporarily escape abusive partners, (7) virus-specific sources of violence, (8) exposure to violence and coercion in response efforts, and (9) violence perpetrated against health care workers. We also suggest additional pathways with limited or anecdotal evidence likely to effect smaller subgroups. Based on these mechanisms, we suggest eight policy and program responses for action by governments, civil society, international and community-based organizations. Finally, as research linking pandemics directly to diverse forms of VAW/C is scarce, we lay out a research agenda comprising three main streams, to better (1) understand the magnitude of the problem, (2) elucidate mechanisms and linkages with other social and economic factors and (3) inform intervention and response options. We hope this paper can be used by researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to help inform further evidence generation and policy action while situating VAW/C within the broader need for intersectional gender-and feminist-informed pandemic response.
... Within humanitarian settings, a recently published systematic review documented several common factors that cut across levels of the ecological model that could exacerbate violence perpetration and victimization in the home including conflict exposure, economic status, and limited social support (Rubenstein et al., 2017). These risk factors, some existing before a crisis, also have the potential to accumulate and converge during an armed conflict or a natural disaster, as was seen in a qualitative analysis from post-Hurricane Haiti (Bermudez et al., 2019). Recent qualitative research from displaced settings in Colombia also demonstrates the importance of considering relocation as a risk of violence, and how it may relate with other community and family factors, such as availability of community services or use of alcohol and other substances (Mootz et al., 2019). ...
... The instability catalyzed by armed conflict and displacement also directly led to challenges in maintaining economic stability and consistent sources of income to support family members. Such humanitarian-related risk factors for IPV and child maltreatment have also been found in other settings (Annan & Brier, 2010;Bermudez et al., 2019;Mootz et al., 2019). Other salient norms in these conflict-affected settings also included family reputation, particularly as it relates to female sexuality. ...
This qualitative study sought to explore the shared risk factors and social norms that may underpin the co-occurrence of intimate partner violence, child maltreatment, and violence against other marginalized household members in the home. Data are drawn from participants who completed either in-depth interviews (N = 51 men, N = 52 women participants) or focus groups (N = 22 men, N = 23 women participants) and were living in two distinct humanitarian settings: North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Northern Shan State and Southern Kachin State, Myanmar. Within this overarching objective, attention to these shared drivers for violence in the home, which may arise from people having multiple and interacting social identities, such as disability status, gender, and age, was explored through an inclusion lens and inductive coding approaches. Findings point to risk factors of violence in the home at all levels of the ecological model, which are underpinned at the macro level by gender inequality, armed conflict, and political instability, among other factors. With the community and family levels, gender inequality manifested in norms related to the acceptability of violence, family reputation, and aged and gendered power hierarchies within the home. Shared risk factors of violence at these levels also included displacement/migration-related stressors, inconsistent income, and lack of community resources to support families, especially for those with disabilities. At the most time-proximal level, interactions between role (non)fulfillment, inability of families to meet their basic needs, alcohol and substance abuse, and abusive expressions of anger were found to catalyze instances of violence in the home. The conceptual model also illuminates potential levers and inclusive entry points that prevent violence in the home for diverse women, children, persons with disabilities, and older persons. Key attention to addressing gender inequality and acceptance of violence must be a cornerstone of sustainable programming, alongside complementary approaches that address other shared risk factors.
... In the existing evidence base, different levels and types of children's exposure to IPV are generally lumped into one binary category of exposed versus not. There is growing recognition of the ways in which violence against women and children intersects within the household, [34][35][36][37] yet no studies included in the REA addressing the indirect pathway accounted for children's direct experiences of violence. ...
Gender-based violence (GBV) is disproportionately perpetrated against women and girls, due to harmful gender and social norms, structural gender-based power inequalities and pervasive discrimination against women and girls globally. In settings of fragility (eg, weak governance and humanitarian emergencies), risk factors for GBV are exacerbated while protective factors are eroded. Adequate nutrition is critical for mental and physical health and ensuring adequate nutrition for children in fragile settings is particularly critical. Fragile settings include heightened risk for GBV and malnutrition, but the combined impact of these two health contributors has rarely been examined together. Based on a rapid evidence assessment, we present evidence for associations between GBV against women and girls and child nutrition outcomes, identifying gaps in the evidence base and discussing key conceptual and methodological issues concerning research on this intersection. Improved understanding of the intersections between GBV and nutrition outcomes can help further highlight the linkages between these two public health issues and help inform programming and policy in both sectors.
... In criminology, however, pandemics and similar societal crises have not garnered much attention, although some studies have linked social breakdown to domestic violence. As argued by Camey et al. (2020), Bermudez (2019), and First et al. (2017), natural disasters or conflicts can result in a breakdown of or rupture in health, transport, food, and security structures, which generally lead to an increased exposure to insecurity, sexual violence, and harassment. ...
We study the emergence of new forms of law violations in Latin America during the coronavirus pandemic. Based on data from online news articles, we construct a typology of “new” crimes: (1) hate or fear crimes against health workers and hospitals; (2) illegal denials of public mobility out of fear of infection; (3) looting and other traditional crimes justified by the pandemic; and (4) violations of pandemic regulations. Studies of crime during the pandemic have focused on traditional crime and have been based on rational choice theory and a routine activities approach. We argue that in order to understand the recent crime trends in Latin America, these must be accompanied by other theories of crime, together with a better understanding of the role of the State. Our typology can be a starting point for discussions and further research on the complex relationship between criminal behavior and policy responses in pandemics.
... Evidence demonstrates that relational dynamics in adolescent girls' households can either protect them from or increase their risk of experiencing GBV and associated mental health sequelae in the immediate, mid, and long term. Households characterized by rigid gender and age hierarchies, where children are corporally disciplined or witness intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetrated against their female caregiver, can increase girls' risk of GBV, either through perpetration in the immediate term by male family members, or in the long term by future intimate partners [21][22][23]. Conversely, households where caregivers foster secure attachment with their children, encourage positive coping strategies, or promote egalitarianism and nonviolent communication between family members can function as a protective factor for adolescent girls against immediate or future violence victimization [8,[24][25][26]. ...
Household violence poses a significant threat to the physical and mental health of adolescent girls. In conflict-affected communities, increased stresses to safety, security, health, and livelihoods may heighten this risk. While it is widely evidenced that the caregiver-child relationship can increase or protect against girls’ risk of violence, less is known about the role of male siblings. Sibling Support for Adolescent Girls in Emergencies (SSAGE) used whole-family support programming to synchronously engage adolescent girls, their male siblings, and their caregivers in conflict-affected communities in Jordan and Niger, using gender-transformative approaches to explore the impacts of gender norms, power, and violence and encourage support and emotional connection. We conducted qualitative research activities, including focus group discussions, participatory group activities, and in-depth, paired, and key informant interviews with 469 SSAGE participants and program facilitators to explore SSAGE’s impact on the male-female sibling dyad in both settings. The multi-stakeholder team used a collaborative thematic analysis approach to identify emergent themes. Findings suggest that the inclusion of male siblings in family strengthening programs may have a positive impact on factors related to girls’ protection, with research participants discussing decreased perpetration of physical and verbal violence by male siblings, increased equity in household labor between siblings, and improved trust and mutual support among siblings. These changes were facilitated by improved communication and interrogation of positive gender identities. In humanitarian settings, interventions that support more gender-transformative, egalitarian, and emotionally effective relationships between male-female siblings can work towards improving girls’ protective assets. More research on the impact of this relationship on girls’ experience of immediate and long-term experience of violence is needed. In settings where gender power dynamics among male-female siblings are less salient, other relationship dyads should be explored.
... Violenţa domestică a devenit o prioritate pe agenda politică a multor state în ultimele patru decenii, fără ca aceasta să determine însă o reducere a acestui fenomen (Watts, Zimmerman, 2002;Stark, Ager, 2011). Studii recente au indicat faptul că diferite tipuri de criză antrenează riscul agravării violenţei domestice: recesiunile economice, pe fondul creşterii tensiunilor din familie din cauza pierderii sau potenţialei pierderi a veniturilor (Anderberg et al., 2016), dezastrele naturale când criza umanitară poate intensifica factorii de risc ca expunerea la conflicte, consumul de alcool şi substanţe, lipsa securităţii materiale şi a sprijinului comunitar (Bermudez et al., 2019) sau răspândirea unor boli (Onyango et al., 2019;ICCV, 2020), când răspunsurile autorităţilor sunt concentrate pe limitarea bolii şi reducerea numărului de infectări. ...
At international level, the assessment of the costs of domestic violence has different approaches, largely influenced by policies specific to national and international contexts. Therefore, there is no general calculation model valid for all countries interested in identifying this type of cost. In an attempt to identify a model or common elements of such analyses, we considered studies carried out since 1997. From the analysis of the studies it became clear that not only the way domestic violence1 is defined has become more and more complex over the years, but also the way costs are assessed and even the categories of costs have become much better determined or determinable.
... A longitudinal study of children in Kabul similarly reported that they experienced family violence more frequently than political violence, concluding that "domestic violence is often a response to structural and collective violence: Afghan respondents clearly articulated linkages between abusive interpersonal relationships and the enormous pressure of socioeconomic stressors and political insecurity" (Panter-Brick, Goodman, Tol, & Eggerman, 2011, p. 360). Together with several colleagues, we have recently used participatory methods, such as photo elicitation, with adolescents and caregivers in crisis-affected contexts to investigate these drivers of violence in further depth and to generate insights that can inform appropriate humanitarian interventions (Bermudez et al., 2019;Browne et al., 2019;Mootz et al., 2019). ...
Every advance in understanding the effects of exposure to political violence on children relies on the active engagement of girls and boys, whose decision to participate in research can present countless risks. Nevertheless, children’s participation in research is critical for scientific advancement. It can also confer benefits to participants, their families, and the services, programs, and policies designed to safeguard their well-being. This chapter reviews the risks, methodological challenges, and potential benefits of engaging child participants in research on political violence in order to inform ongoing discussion and reflection about best practices in this field. The chapter discusses key principles guiding ethical research with children before exploring several exemplary research processes advanced by colleagues in the field, which highlight the different ways that these principles can be applied and built on. The chapter concludes by reflecting on ongoing challenges and potential new directions for research practice in this field.
... The second case employs data from Transforming Households: Reducing Incidence of Violence in Emergencies (THRIVE), a study that investigated the determinants of violence against women and children in humanitarian settings, including Haiti and Colombia (Bermudez et al., 2019;Mootz et al., 2019). On October 4, 2016, Hurricane Matthew struck southern Haiti, directly killing some 546 people, displacing over 175,000, and affecting some two million. ...
Public health scholars and practitioners have increasingly distanced themselves from the term “culture,” which has been used to essentialize and blame marginalized “others.” However, leading health theories inevitably entail the study of culture; omitting the term may sever vital connections to useful social theory. Instead, we propose the Intersectional Theory of Cultural Repertoires in Health (RiH), integrating social norms and intersectionality with repertoire theory, which has been highly influential in cultural sociology. We outline an approach to investigating relationships between cultural resources and health behaviors and illustrate the theory's application with two qualitative case studies. The cases demonstrate how RiH theory can elucidate the roles of cultural resources in influencing health outcomes, such as gender-equitable behavior in Nigeria and coping strategies in Haiti. Building on conventional normative explanations of health, we theorize how schemas, narratives, boundaries, and other cultural resources shape behavior and demonstrate how norms constrain the use of repertoires. We detail how this theory can deepen our understanding of health phenomena and identify future research priorities.
... We developed a 19-item Experiences Related to COVID-19 instrument , following a review of the literature on parent and adolescent stress responses following human ecosystem disruptions, including natural disasters (e.g., Bermudez et al., 2019) and previous public health crises such as the SARS outbreak (Hawryluck et al., 2004) and H1N1 (Rubin et al., 2009). The measure was pilot-tested with a small sample in the USA, and minor revisions were made to the measure on the basis of initial responses. ...
Longitudinal data from the Parenting Across Cultures study of children, mothers, and fathers in 12 cultural groups in nine countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the USA; N = 1331 families) were used to understand predictors of compliance with COVID-19 mitigation strategies and vaccine hesitancy. Confidence in government responses to the COVID pandemic was also examined as a potential moderator of links between pre-COVID risk factors and compliance with COVID mitigation strategies and vaccine hesitancy. Greater confidence in government responses to the COVID pandemic was associated with greater compliance with COVID mitigation strategies and less vaccine hesitancy across cultures and reporters. Pre-COVID financial strain and family stress were less consistent predictors of compliance with COVID mitigation strategies and vaccine hesitancy than confidence in government responses to the pandemic. Findings suggest the importance of bolstering confidence in government responses to future human ecosystem disruptions, perhaps through consistent, clear, non-partisan messaging and transparency in acknowledging limitations and admitting mistakes to inspire compliance with government and public health recommendations.
... Humanitarian emergencies can intensify conflict within families; economic losses put strain on households, and rapidly changing gender norms triggered by displacement and other stressors can initiate or exacerbate existing cycles of domestic violence [6,[9][10][11]. Global evidence from both non-humanitarian and humanitarian settings confirms that intimate partner violence (IPV) and violence against children (VAC) by their caregivers frequently co-occur in the same households [12][13][14][15]. Additionally, while substantially under researched in low-and middle-income countries, several studies from high income settings suggest that sibling violence also co-occurs with IPV and VAC, and further contributes to cycles of polyvictimization within households [16][17][18]. ...
Background
Household violence is one of the most prevalent forms of gender-based violence faced by adolescent girls in humanitarian settings. A growing evidence base demonstrates the extent to which multiple forms of familial violence, including intimate partner violence, violence against children, and sibling violence overlap in the same households. However, existing evidence of family support programming that effectively reduces violence against girls by addressing intersecting forms of household violence are limited, particularly in the Global South. Through a qualitative implementation evaluation informed by a grounded theoretical approach, we explored the perceived impact of a gender transformative, whole-family support intervention aimed at building adolescent girls’ protective assets against violence, among program participants in two communities of internally displaced people Maiduguri, Borno State, Northeast Nigeria.
Methods
We conducted six in-depth interviews and six focus group discussions with adult caregivers; six participatory activities and four paired interviews with adolescent girls and boys; and 12 key informant interviews with program staff. Criterion sampling was used to recruit 21 male caregivers, 21 female caregivers, 23 adolescent boys, and 21 adolescent girls; purposive sampling was used to recruit 12 program staff to participate in qualitative research activities. We audio recorded, translated, and transcribed all interviews. In a collaborative coding process, a multi-stakeholder team used applied thematic analysis in Dedoose to identify emergent themes in the data.
Results
Participants reported a decreased tolerance for and perpetration of violence against girls at the household level, and endorsed their right to protection from violence at the community level. However, alongside these self-reported changes in attitude and behavior, aspects of normative, patriarchal norms governing the treatment of adolescent girls were maintained by participants.
Conclusions
This study builds the evidence base for gender transformative, whole-family support programming and its impact on preventing violence against adolescent girls in humanitarian emergencies. Situating our findings in a feminist analysis of violence, this study calls attention to the complexity of gender norms change programming amongst families in conflict-affected settings, and highlights the need for programming which holistically addresses the relational, community, and structural drivers of violence against girls in emergencies.
... These factors can be explained by social learning theory which suggests that children will learn and reproduce behaviors and attitudes they have observed from their caregivers (Akers et al., 2015). Studies conducted in Haiti, mostly among adult women, have found similar results, but more research is needed in order to generalize these results (Bermudez et al., 2019;Conserve et al., 2016;Gage, 2005;Gage & Hutchinson, 2006;Occean et al., 2020). In the Haitian context, acceptance of violence can be an important risk factor, as gender-based violence is promoted through popular music often consumed by youths (Lamour, 2021). ...
Background
Studies examining both victimization and perpetration of dating violence among both women and men are virtually non-existent in Haiti. This study aimed to document the prevalence and factors associated with victimization and perpetration of dating violence (DV) among adolescents and young adults aged 15–24 years in Haiti.
Participants and setting
A total of 3586 participants (47.6% women; mean age = 19.37; SD = 2.71) were sampled in the 10 geographical departments according to residence areas (urban/rural), age group (15–19/20–24 years old), and gender (men/women).
Method
Participants completed questionnaires assessing DV victimization and perpetration, witnessing interparental violence, parental violence, violence acceptance, social desirability, and self-esteem.
Results
Overall, 1538 participants (56% women) were in a romantic relationship in the past year. Results showed that men were more likely to experience both psychological (49.4% of women and 57% of men, X² = 8.17, p = .004), and physical violence (11.1% of women and 18.8% of men, X² = 8.13, p = .004). There were marginally significant differences for sexual violence between gender for adolescents aged 15 to 19 (26.5% of girls and 20.5% of boys, X² = 3.25, p = .07), and not for young adults (21.8% of women and 24.0% of men, X² = 0.49, p = .48). No significant difference was observed for any forms of DV perpetration. DV perpetration was positively associated with victimization (b = 0.5, p = .002), however victimization was not associated with perpetration. Results also showed different associations between violence perpetration and victimization, gender, social desirability, acceptance of violence, parental violence, and witnessing interparental violence.
Conclusions
This study highlights avenues for prevention and intervention that must begin at an early age, engage teachers, train peer-educators, promote healthy, non-violent and egalitarian romantic relationships.
... This study utilises self-report data from adolescents and young adults and their mothers and fathers over a three-year period in a diverse group of nine countries to assess associations among COVID-19 personal disruption and perceived increases in internalising symptoms in young adulthood, and whether positivity, future-oriented thoughts and behaviour, or parental psychological control during adolescence moderate those relations. In line with prior research during experiences with community-wide stressors, including natural disasters (Bermudez et al. 2019;Hafstad et al. 2012), 9/11 (Calderoni et al. 2006Hendricks and Bornstein 2007), and the SARS outbreak (Hawryluck et al. 2004), we hypothesised that high levels of pandemic-related disruption during young adulthood would be related to perceived increases in internalising symptoms. Because the literature identified a gap in our cross-national understanding of how positivity and future orientation are associated with internalising behaviours during the pandemic, we also examined whether positivity and future orientation during late adolescence moderated the disruption-internalising link. ...
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted many young adults’ lives educationally, economically, and personally. This study investigated associations between COVID-19-related disruption and perception of increases in internalising symptoms among young adults and whether these associations were moderated by earlier measures of adolescent positivity and future orientation and parental psychological control. Participants included 1329 adolescents at Time 1, and 810 of those participants as young adults (M age = 20, 50.4% female) at Time 2 from 9 countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States). Drawing from a larger longitudinal study of adolescent risk taking and young adult competence, this study controlled for earlier levels of internalising symptoms during adolescence in examining these associations. Higher levels of adolescent positivity and future orientation as well as parent psychological control during late adolescence helped protect young adults from sharper perceived increases in anxiety and depression during the first nine months of widespread pandemic lockdowns in all nine countries. Findings are discussed in terms of how families in the 21st century can foster greater resilience during and after adolescence when faced with community-wide stressors, and the results provide new information about how psychological control may play a protective role during times of significant community-wide threats to personal health and welfare.
... Haiti has suffered a devastating earthquake in 2010, and more recently one in 2021. This is important since evidence shows that violence against children can intensify after disaster settings and situations of unrest or conflict (15)(16)(17). Eleven years after the earthquake, the need for schooling is still dire. Presently, there are no rules (at least not enforced) for opening a school or becoming a teacher in Haiti. ...
Context
Although teacher violence at schools is a serious problem in Haiti, there is a lack of systematic evidence on the effectiveness of school-based interventions in reducing teacher violence in this low-income country.
Objective
To test the effectiveness of the preventative intervention Interaction Competencies with Children for Teachers (ICC-T) aiming to reduce teachers' use of violent disciplinary strategies and to improve their interaction competences with children in the Haitian context.
Design, Setting, Participants
The study is designed as a two-arm matched cluster randomized controlled trial. The sample consists of 468 teachers and 1,008 children from 36 (community and public) primary schools around Cap-Haïtien (Département du Nord) in Haiti. Data will be collected in three phases, before the intervention, and 6 and 18 months after.
Intervention
In the group of intervention schools, ICC-T will be delivered as a 5-day training workshop. Workshop sessions are divided into five modules: 1) improving teacher-student interactions, 2) maltreatment prevention, 3) effective discipline strategies, 4) identifying and supporting burdened students, and 5) implementation in everyday school life.
Main Outcome Measure
The main outcome measure is teacher violence assessed in two ways: (i) teachers' self-reported use of violence, and (ii) children's self-reported experiences of violence by teachers.
Conclusions
Prior evaluations of ICC-T had been conducted in sub-Saharan Africa with promising results. This study will test for the first time the effectiveness of this intervention outside the context of sub-Saharan Africa.
... Many types of crises-be it disease outbreaks like the current pandemic, severe economic downturns, or natural disasters-carry the risk of increasing DV (Anastario et al., 2009;Anderberg et al., 2016;Bermudez et al., 2019;Onyango et al., 2019). Effective policy responses require up-to-date reliable data on the scale of the problem. ...
In contrast to widespread concerns that COVID‐19 lockdowns have substantially increased the incidence of domestic violence, research based on police‐recorded crimes or calls‐for‐service has typically found small and often even negligible effects. One explanation for this discrepancy is that lockdowns have left victims of domestic violence trapped in‐home with their perpetrators, limiting their ability to safely report incidents to the police. To overcome this measurement problem, we propose a model‐based algorithm for measuring temporal variation in domestic violence incidence using internet search activity and make precise the conditions under which this measure yields less biased estimates of domestic violence problem during periods of crisis than commonly used police‐recorded crime measures. Analysing the COVID‐19 lockdown in Greater London, we find a 40% increase in our internet search‐based domestic violence index at the peak occurring 3–6 weeks into the lockdown, ‐seven to eight times larger than the increase in police‐recorded crimes and much closer to the increase in helpline calls reported by victim support charities. Applying the same methodology to Los Angeles, we find strikingly similar results. We conclude that evidence based solely on police‐recorded domestic violence incidents cannot reliably inform us about the scale of the domestic violence problem during crises like COVID‐19.
... Experiences with COVID-19-We developed a 19-question measure about COVIDrelated experiences, Experiences Related to COVID-19 (see Appendix), after reviewing the literature on parent and adolescent stress responses following major traumatic events, including natural disasters (e.g., Bermudez et al., 2019;Hafstad et al., 2012), 9/11 (Calderoni et al., 2006Hendricks & Bornstein, 2007), ongoing political violence (Cárdenas Castro et al., 2019;Gelkopf et al., 2012), and previous public health crises such as the SARS outbreak (Hawryluck et al., 2004) and H1N1 (Rubin et al., 2009). As a pilot test and to obtain data as early as possible as the United States responded to the pandemic, we began administering the measure via Qualtrics and telephone in the United States in March 2020. ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has presented families around the world with extraordinary challenges related to physical and mental health, economic security, social support, and education. The current study capitalizes on a longitudinal, cross-national study of parenting, adolescent development, and young adult competence to document the association between personal disruption during the pandemic and reported changes in internalizing and externalizing behavior in young adults and their mothers since the pandemic began. It further investigates whether family functioning during adolescence 3 years earlier moderates this association. Data from 484 families in five countries (Italy, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States) reveal that higher levels of reported disruption during the pandemic are related to reported increases in internalizing and externalizing behaviors after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic for young adults (Mage = 20) and their mothers in all five countries, with the exception of one association in Thailand. Associations between disruption during the pandemic and young adults’ and their mothers’ reported increases in internalizing and externalizing behaviors were attenuated by higher levels of youth disclosure, more supportive parenting, and lower levels of destructive adolescent-parent conflict prior to the pandemic. This work has implications for fostering parent–child relationships characterized by warmth, acceptance, trust, open communication, and constructive conflict resolution at all times given their protective effects for family resilience during times of crisis.
... 5 6 HIV is an illustrative example, with prevalence highest in sub-Saharan Africa, a region that is highly impacted by climate change and associated extreme weather events such as drought, 1 7-9 as well as Caribbean contexts such as Haiti. [10][11][12] Strengths and limitations of this study ► This scoping review will offer an innovative and comprehensive approach to climate change and associations with multiple sexual health domains, including sexual health education, HIV/STI prevention and treatment. ► The search strategy includes five databases and grey literature with no limitations on date, location or language to maximise the ability to find all relevant literature. ...
Introduction
The effects of climate change and associated extreme weather events (EWEs) present substantial threats to well-being. EWEs hold the potential to harm sexual health through pathways including elevated exposure to HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), disrupted healthcare access, and increased sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). The WHO defines four components of sexual health: comprehensive sexuality education; HIV and STI prevention and care; SGBV prevention and care; and psychosexual counselling. Yet, knowledge gaps remain regarding climate change and its associations with these sexual health domains. This scoping review will therefore explore the linkages between climate change and sexual health.
Methods and analysis
Five electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Web of Science, CINAHL) will be searched using text words and subject headings (eg, Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), Emtree) related to sexual health and climate change from the inception of each database to May 2021. Grey literature and unpublished reports will be searched using a comprehensive search strategy, including from the WHO, World Bank eLibrary, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The scoping review will consider studies that explore: (a) climate change and EWEs including droughts, heat waves, wildfires, dust storms, hurricanes, flooding rains, coastal flooding and storm surges; alongside (b) sexual health, including: comprehensive sexual health education, sexual health counselling, and HIV/STI acquisition, prevention and/or care, and/or SGBV, including intimate partner violence, sexual assault and rape. Searches will not be limited by language, publication year or geographical location. We will consider quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods and review articles for inclusion. We will conduct thematic analysis of findings. Data will be presented in narrative and tabular forms.
Ethics and dissemination
There are no formal ethics requirements as we are not collecting primary data. Results will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and shared at international conferences.
... Critically, the included articles for this review did not elucidate humanitarian-unique impacts of IPV. This is concerning, as there are many characteristics germane to humanitarian settings that could both exacerbate the prevalence of IPV [6] and magnify the impact of IPV [9,88]. Without a comprehensive understanding of IPV's influence across the ecological framework, important considerations for programming and policy may be overlooked and funding may continue to underserve women and girls in humanitarian settings [89]. ...
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a pervasive form of gender-based violence that exacerbates in humanitarian settings. This systematic review examined the myriad IPV impacts and the quality of existing evidence of IPV in humanitarian settings. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) procedures, a total of 51 articles were included from the 3924 screened. We identified the impact of IPV across two levels of the ecological framework: individual and microsystem. Our findings corroborated previous evidence that indicated IPV to be associated with adverse physical and mental health for survivors. Our findings also uniquely synthesized the intergenerational impact of IPV in humanitarian settings. However, findings highlighted a glaring gap in evidence examining the non-health impact of IPV for survivors in humanitarian settings and across levels of the ecological framework. Without enhanced research of women and girls and the violence they experience, humanitarian responses will continue to under-achieve, and the needs of women and girls will continue to be relegated as secondary interests. Investment should prioritize addressing the range of both health and non-health impacts of IPV among individuals, families, and communities, as well as consider how the humanitarian environment influences these linkages.
... This can worsen the weak spots that already exist in conflict and disaster zones. When this happens, there is families are separated, intra-familial violence arises and women are exposed to conditions that are not conducive, including being exposed to sexual violence and harassment, especially when they try to get essential resources such as food, water and firewood (Castañeda Camey et al., 2020;Fraser, 2020;Bermudez et al. 2019;De Oliveiro et al., 2019;First et al., 2017). ...
The year 2020 met us with the COVID-19 pandemic. The covid-19 pandemic has gone past a mere health challenge. Its effect can be felt in the economy and society in general. Women form a large chunk of the response efforts geared at flattening the curve of the COVID-19 scourge. As the first point of contact, caregivers, medical personnel, volunteers, logistics facilitators, researchers and scientists and other professionals critical to the fight against the virus, women are making profound contributions in the fight against the spread of the outbreak. Most of the caregivers found in our homes and communities today are women. Furthermore, women stand a higher risk of infection and loss of their sources of livelihood, and as the outbreak continues to spread, there is all likelihood that they may not be able to access programs vital to their reproductive and sexual health. There is also a rise in cases of domestic violence against women in this crisis period. This study will be exploring a wide range of literature about pandemics that have happened in the past and previous public health emergencies and crisis, to enable it to ascertain patterns by which pandemics can further heighten the different kinds of violence against women. Evidence gathered from this study will be used to make recommendations to governments, civil society organizations, community-based agencies, and international donor agencies to help make women and children's health priority, keeping them safe and preparing them adequately for another possible pandemic.
... It is difficult to tease out the specific drivers and impact of individual acts of VAWG, but the cumulative effect of these experiences on the women participants, on top of the horror of war and displacement, was profoundly traumatic. This is consistent with recent research that has identified gender inequality as a major driver of VAWG in conflict and postconflict settings (Bermudez et al., 2019;Boesten, 2012;Falb et al., 2020;Swaine et al., 2019). ...
This article presents the results of a qualitative study on the context and different forms of violence committed against women and girls in South Sudan. The study documents many forms of sexual and physical violence against women and girls in South Sudan, including conflict-related sexual violence, intimate partner violence, nonpartner sexual violence, child and forced marriage, and abduction. Violence occurred during three overarching contexts: armed conflict, gender inequality, and the economic crisis. The custom of bride price, combined with the economic crisis, is a key driver of many other forms of violence. Keywords violence against women and girls, conflict-related sexual violence, intimate partner violence, nonpartner sexual violence, child, early and forced marriage, bride price,
... In some cases, this can manifest as intimate partner violence [97,98]. An association of increased interpersonal violence following a hurricane with daily stressors and loss of control is reported in the literature [99,100]. Reports of intimate partner violence increased significantly following Hurricane Katrina. ...
Hurricanes are devastating natural disasters which dramatically modify the physical landscape and alter the socio-physical and biochemical characteristics of the environment, thus exposing the affected communities to new environmental stressors, which persist for weeks to months after the hurricane. This paper has three aims. First, it conceptualizes potential direct and indirect health effects of hurricanes and provides an overview of factors that exacerbate the health effects of hurricanes. Second, it summarizes the literature on the health impact of hurricanes. Finally, it examines the time lag between the hurricane (landfall) and the occurrence of diseases. Two major findings emerge from this paper. Hurricanes are shown to cause and exacerbate multiple diseases, and most adverse health impacts peak within six months following hurricanes. However, chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease and mental disorders, continue to occur for years following the hurricane impact.
... The border region has been described as a "lawless area," with a "porous" border facilitating underground economies, violence, and the Colombian conflict spilling across the Ecuadorian border at times (Conway, 2013). External stressors on the household and partnership can increase tension in the family, as could displacement of anger by partners also exposed to violence (Bermudez et al., 2019;Wirtz et al., 2014). Wirtz's qualitative work with internally displaced Colombian women found that women attributed IPV to their partner's exposure to political violence, their partners' lost employment, and economic insecurity as a cause of IPV (Wirtz et al., 2014). ...
A high prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) has been documented among women living in conflict-affected and refugee-hosting areas, but why this occurs is not well understood. Conflict and displacement deteriorate communities’ social cohesion and community connectedness; these neighborhood social environments may influence individual IPV outcomes. We explored neighborhood-level social disorganization and cohesion as predictors of recent IPV in refugee-hosting communities in northern Ecuador by conducting multi-level logistic regression on a longitudinal sample of 1,312 women. Neighborhood social disorganization was marginally positively associated with emotional IPV (AOR: 1.17, 95% CI: .99, 1.38) and physical and/or sexual IPV (AOR: 1.20, 95% CI: .96, 1.51). This was partially mediated by neighborhood-level civic engagement in the case of emotional IPV. At the household level, perceived discrimination and experience of psychosocial stressors were risk factors for both types of IPV, whereas social support was protective. To our knowledge, this is one of the first studies to examine how neighborhood social factors influence IPV outcomes in refugee-hosting communities or in South America. As the world grapples with the largest number of displaced people in history, this research can inform prevention and response programming and reinforces the critical importance of promoting acceptance of refugees and immigrants and positively engaging all community members in civic life in refugee-hosting settings.
... Once lifetime statistics are taken into consideration, this number rises to approximately one in three women experiencing DV during their lifetime (United Nations (UN), 2015; World Health Organization (WHO), 2013). Moreover, previous research has indicated that within the context of extreme events such as war, conflicts, disaster, and pandemic emergencies, there is an increase in the prevalence of IPV (Ali et al., 2011;Bermudez et al., 2019;Castañeda Camey et al., 2020;Garcia-Moreno et al., 2006;Gearhart et al., 2018;Kumar, 2020;Parkinson & Zara, 2013;Peterman et al., 2020;Schumacher et al., 2010;United Nations (UN), 2015). One of the latest extreme events being faced globally is the COVID-19 health emergency which has crossed international boundaries and constitutes a pandemic and has infected millions of people across the world. ...
... Domestic abuse and violence are additional concerns for women in families. As seen in past pandemics, scarcity of food and essential services can result into exploitative stressful relationships which increases the exposure of women to unsafe and risky settings, including exposure to sexual violence and harassment during procurement of basic goods, including food, firewood, and water 62,[114][115][116][117] . Such incidents could lead to long-term consequences on the mental health of people who are facing it. ...
Abstract
Introduction: The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has infected more than 10 million people globally and it caused more than 500 thousand deaths. Researchers have highlighted the need for early detection and intervention for psychological ill-effect of the pandemic on various population subgroups. Women may be more vulnerable in such a crisis phase. This review addresses the mental health needs of women and the kind of interventions needed to cater to their various psychological issues. Methodology: All existing literature was searched using PubMed, Google Scholar, and Medline databases for articles published on mental health aspects of women during COVID-19 pandemic. Only English language articles published till 15th June 2020 were considered for the review. Data were extracted by the authors from the selected articles and findings were synthesized in a narrative format. Results: From the available literature, following themes were identified for further discussion: sexual health and contraception, pregnancy, lactation, domestic abuse, female healthcare workers, women with pre-existing mental illness, women with substance use disorders, homeless women, refugees and professional sex workers. Studies have reported a higher burden of mental health issues in females than male counterparts, and an increase in domestic violence and crises for those at-risk (like refugees and women with pre-existing illnesses). Conclusion: Women mental health is compromised in many aspects due to COVID 19 pandemic. Findings stress upon the increased need for early detection and prompt intervention for women in the community to alleviate the long-term psychological consequences of this pandemic.
... A longitudinal study of children in Kabul similarly reported that they experienced family violence more frequently than political violence, concluding that "domestic violence is often a response to structural and collective violence: Afghan respondents clearly articulated linkages between abusive interpersonal relationships and the enormous pressure of socioeconomic stressors and political insecurity" (Panter-Brick, Goodman, Tol, & Eggerman, 2011, p. 360). Together with several colleagues, we have recently used participatory methods, such as photo elicitation, with adolescents and caregivers in crisis-affected contexts to investigate these drivers of violence in further depth and to generate insights that can inform appropriate humanitarian interventions (Bermudez et al., 2019;Browne et al., 2019;Mootz et al., 2019). ...
Every advance in understanding the effects of exposure to political violence on children relies on the active engagement of girls and boys, whose decision to participate in research can present countless risks. Nevertheless, children’s participation in research is critical for scientific advancement. It can also confer benefits to participants, their families, and the services, programs, and policies designed to safeguard their well-being. This chapter reviews the risks, methodological challenges, and potential benefits of engaging child participants in research on political violence in order to inform ongoing discussion and reflection about best practices in this field. The chapter discusses key principles guiding ethical research with children before exploring several exemplary research processes advanced by colleagues in the field, which highlight the different ways that these principles can be applied and built on. The chapter concludes by reflecting on ongoing challenges and potential new directions for research practice in this field.
... Par ailleurs, des données épidémiologiques dans des contextes comparables en termes d'isolement social et de conséquences économiques telles que des catastrophes naturelles ont déjà montré une augmentation des violences conjugales au sein du couple [4]. Liens d'intérêts : les auteurs déclarent ne pas avoir de liens d'intérêts. ...
... Women also lack legal protections and the existing laws that address gender-based violence are rarely enforced (Horton, 2012). In addition to these notable gender inequities in Haiti, specific post-disaster exacerbations of these issues have also occurred such as gender exclusion in relief efforts, violence, and transactional sex with aid workers and UN Peacekeepers (Bermudez et al., 2019;Horton, 2012;Kolbe, 2015;Vahedi et al., 2019). Widely-accepted, traditional gender norms reinforce the expectation that women should have sex with a partner in return for gifts or money that the partner provided them (Kolbe, 2015) and several studies conducted outside of post-disaster settings have found that transactional sex motivated by economic need is common (Daniel and Logie, 2017;Kolbe, 2015;Severe et al., 2014;Smith Fawzi et al., 2005). ...
Migrant and refugee women and adolescents are extremely vulnerable in humanitarian crisis and armed conflict contexts. The Venezuelan crisis has unleashed the largest exodus of migrants/refugees in recent Latin American history, most of whom have relocated to Colombia. There is a scarcity of research addressing the how adverse and traumatic experiences related to violence presents mental health amidst the Venezuelan-Colombian humanitarian crisis context and how it affects communities in relocation communities. This study sought to explore how traumatic experiences pre-, during and post-migration might relate to mental health risks for Venezuelan migrant and refugee women and adolescents and assess feasible mechanisms that can protect and promote these populations upon relocation in Colombia. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 30 migrant women and adolescents, inclusive of cis- and transgender women in two Colombian cities using a participatory-action research framework. Key findngs suggest that parental abandonment in origin contexts, experiences of household and community violence before and after migration and structural barriers to access services are main factors impacting this population. Feasible strategies to promote and support wellbeing and better mental health access ought to include community leaderships and community-based support networks post-migration that can support trust in services, disseminate information and engage vulnerable groups in services.
Küresel iklim değişikliği bağlamında kadınlara ve kız çocuklarına yönelik toplumsal cinsiyet eşitsizliği dönemin acilen çözülmesi gereken en ciddi küresel sorunlarından biri olup sürdürülebilir kalkınmanın önünde büyük bir engel oluşturmaktadır. Kadınlara ve kız çocuklarına yönelik şiddet, yaşamları boyunca tahminen her 3 kadından 1’ini etkileyen, dünya genelinde en yaygın ve en sık görülen insan hakları ihlalidir. Küresel iklim değişikliği aynı zamanda, kadınlara ve kız çocuklarına yönelik farklı cinsel istismar, sömürü, tecavüz, insan kaçakçılığı vakalarının ciddi şekilde artmasına yol açan etmenlerden biridir. Küresel iklim değişikliği; toplum, kültür, ekonomi, sağlık ve insan hakları alanlarındaki yıkıcı etkileriyle gezegenimizin sürdürülebilirliğini tehdit etmeye, en çok savunmasız ve kırılgan gruplar başta olmak üzere, kadınları ve kız çocuklarını orantısız bir şekilde etkilemeye devam etmektedir. Bu derleme kapsamında; küresel iklim değişikliğinin neden olduğu afet ve doğa olaylarında birçok kadın ve kız çocuğunun sessiz bir şekilde mücadele içerisinde olduğu belirlenmiştir. Bu alanda yapılan çalışmaların sayısının sınırlı olduğu ve dolayısıyla kadın ve kız çocuklarının yaşadığı olumsuz durumlar ile ilgili kanıtların artırılması gerektiği düşünülmektedir. Bu nedenle kadın sağlığı hemşirelerinin bu alanda farkındalığı ve kanıtları artırmak için gerekli çalışmalarda öncü olması önemlidir
Objective
To explore through the lens of the theoretical framework whether parents achieved any forms of improved parenting during the pandemic; in what way parents improved, if any; and what led to improved parenting.
Background
The COVID‐19 pandemic and its repercussions gave rise to multiple challenges and hardships confronting children and parents. The ways parents handled the parenting demands varied. The research documented the presence of both unhealthy and nurturing parenting behaviors during the pandemic. During this course in which parents responded to the parenting demands, some facets of parenting (e.g., parenting practices, parenting cognitions) were subject to change. The current study placed the focus on positive parental changes, if any.
Method
The study employed a phenomenological approach. Fourteen parents (female = 12; White = 8; Black = 4, and Asian = 2; 11 of 14 were upper‐ to lower‐middle‐class families) constituted the sample. One‐on‐one semistructured interviews were conducted over Zoom for data collection. Thematic analysis was performed for data analysis.
Results
Four themes were constructed: targeted parental responses and changes, refined parenting skills and practices, enhanced understanding of parenting, and unsettled parenting styles.
Conclusion
Some parents achieved improved parenting (e.g., refined parenting skills, a new understanding of childrearing). Whether and to what extent parents bettered themselves were conditional on whether and how far parents went to adapt or adjust their parenting.
Implication
Although substantially improving parenting skills appears to be difficult, parents can still bring benefits to family by bettering themselves incrementally. Practitioners need to be a source of reinvigoration for parents who aim to improve their parenting and family equilibrium, particularly in the context of a crisis.
Plusieurs chercheur.euse.s s’intéressent à la question des conséquences des désastres sur les enfants et les adolescent.e.s. La majorité des études effectuées sont quantitatives et se concentrent sur les symptômes anxieux, dépressifs et post-traumatiques que développent ces jeunes. Peu d’études qualitatives se préoccupent des effets plus systémiques que provoquent ces catastrophes, tels que les conséquences d’une relocalisation dans un nouveau quartier ou les difficultés familiales et la violence envers les enfants qui peuvent s’ensuivre. De plus, peu d’études proposent des pistes d’intervention en travail social. L’objectif principal de cet article vise donc à fournir une recension des écrits récente, francophone et systémique au sujet des conséquences vécues par les jeunes d’âge mineur à la suite d’un désastre. Cela afin de soutenir les intervenant.e.s en travail social en regroupant dans un même article quelques pistes d’intervention individuelle, familiale, de groupe et collective.
Purpose
As Covid-19 became a pandemic, numerous people were forced to stay at home, leading to increased intimate partner violence (IPV) in many countries, particularly in developing and least-developed ones. This paper aims to highlight the IPV based on 15 different cases formed from the practical evidence of five developing countries.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors interviewed 15 women from five countries who were the victims of IPV during the early periods of Covid-19 outbreak. Due to geographical remoteness, the authors conducted informal telephone interviews to collect the participants' personal experiences. The conversations were recorded with participants' permission; afterwards, the authors summarized participants’ experiences into 15 different cases without revealing their original identities (instead, disguised names were used).
Findings
It was revealed that the women were the primary victims of such violence, particularly from their intimate partners (husbands). In most cases, such IPV, as reported by the interviewees, originated or increased after the pandemic when they were forced to stay at home, losing their partners’ jobs or income sources.
Originality/value
The authors summarized the causes of IPV and put forward a few action recommendations based on the interviewees’ practical experience and existing literature. This paper will open a new window for research investigations on IPV during emergencies such as Covid-19 outbreak.
Childcare decisions made by biological parents and extended families in Haiti must be understood in the context of Haiti’s uniquely complicated and tumultuous history and modern-day conditions of extreme deprivation. Haitian parenting and child care choices are fundamentally shaped by the culturally and historically conditioned norm of fluid family structures and the use of harsher approaches in normative parenting practices. These are separate from cases of abuse in childcare as necessary adaptations to harsh living conditions. We argue that Haitian parenting, although qualitatively different from accepted normative parenting approaches in Western industrialized democracies, has in many ways evolved in ingenious and exceptional ways to protect children in a climate that is harshly unfavorable to positive outcomes for children, regardless of the parenting approaches employed. Our argument and analysis of parenting excludes extreme abusive parenting and mistreatment that is often promoted by alcoholism or mental health problems. Rather, our focus is on normative and typical Haitian parenting. For those concerned with improving outcomes for Haitian children and families, we hope to provide a deeper and more nuanced understanding of how and why Haitian parenting and childcare practices are as they are. This culturally and historically grounded knowledge should advance two goals for those desiring to support Haitian parents and caregivers. The first highlights unique assets in extended and fluid family structures in Haiti that can be leveraged and the second clarifies ways in which understanding the context and environment in which caregivers make decisions about discipline is needed to diminish violence against Haitian children.KeywordsHaitianParentingChildcareFluid familiesViolence
This systematic review provides an overview of existing research on risk and protective factors associated with violence against women and girls (VAWG) in conflict and natural disaster settings. PubMed (Medline); PsycINFO; Scopus; and Cochrane Center trials registrar were searched as well as relevant internet repositories for VAWG research. The inclusion criteria covered studies that were published between January 1995 and December 2020, documented risk and/or protective factors for VAWG in conflict or natural disaster-affected settings and included primary or secondary data analysis. A total of 1,413 records were initially identified and 86 articles (covering 77 studies) were included in the final analysis. The findings show that many preexisting risk factors for VAWG are exacerbated in armed conflict and natural disaster-affected settings. Poverty and economic stress, men’s substance abuse, exposure to violence, changing gender roles in contexts of inequitable gender norms, and a lack of social support are some of the risk factors associated with male perpetration or female experience of violence. In addition, risk factors specific to experiences during armed conflict or in a natural disaster (e.g., displacement, insecurity or congestion in and around displacement camps, militarization of society, killing of family, destruction of property, etc.) are associated with higher prevalence of VAWG in these contexts.
Victims of domestic abuse may struggle to contact the police. But they are likely to seek help on the internet. By using internet search data to measure domestic violence during the Covid‐19 pandemic, Dan Anderberg, Helmut Rainer and Fabian Siuda found an increase several times larger than that suggested in official police records Victims of domestic abuse may struggle to contact the police. But they are likely to seek help on the internet. By using internet search data to measure domestic violence during the Covid‐19 pandemic, Dan Anderberg, Helmut Rainer and Fabian Siuda found an increase several times larger than that suggested in official police records
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, adolescents ( N = 1,330; M ages = 15 and 16; 50% female), mothers, and fathers from nine countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, United States) reported on adolescents’ internalizing and externalizing problems, adolescents completed a lab-based task to assess tendency for risk-taking, and adolescents reported on their well-being. During the pandemic, participants ( M age = 20) reported on changes in their internalizing, externalizing, and substance use compared to before the pandemic. Across countries, adolescents’ internalizing problems pre-pandemic predicted increased internalizing during the pandemic, and poorer well-being pre-pandemic predicted increased externalizing and substance use during the pandemic. Other relations varied across countries, and some were moderated by confidence in the government’s handling of the pandemic, gender, and parents’ education.
This commentary identifies and underscores the importance of key considerations for the global commitment to end violence against children. The authors draw from recent research to highlight the overlap in risk factors for violence against women and children and argue for greater coordination and collaboration in the prevention of both forms of violence; such collaboration may be particularly fruitful in humanitarian settings, where existing risk factors for violence against children are exacerbated and new risk factors abound. The review also emphasizes the integral role social norms can play in fostering and reducing violence against children, pointing to specific examples of how harmful social norms can lead to increased violence, stigma and mental health issues for children. Finally, recent innovations in the measurement of violence against children are discussed, highlighting the added value of mixed methods in research on this topic.
Purpose of review:
There is evidence that the exposure to a major natural disaster such as the 2010 earthquake in Haiti may have devastating short- and long-term effects on children's mental health and overall development. This review summarizes what has been reported in the past 3 years (2017-2020) regarding emotional, psychological, and behavioral effects of exposure to this particular earthquake on children 10 years and older.
Recent findings:
Twenty-six articles were screened, of which twenty-one were selected for final analysis. The main themes addressed in the literature over the 3 years concerned prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, determinants of resilience factors, prevalence of sexual violence as well as prenatal exposure, and subsequent autism behaviors/symptoms. The majority of the findings analyzed in this review on mental health in young Haitian survivors of the 2010 earthquake came from cross-sectional studies conducted in West region of Haiti, spefically Port-au-Prince. There was a paucity of longitudinal and translational data available. The results of this critical review can be used to inform disaster preparedness programs with the aim of protecting children's development and mental health, which are much needed on this disaster-prone island.
Background:
Research examining the interrelated drivers of household violence against women and violence against children is nascent, particularly in humanitarian settings. Gaps remain in understanding how relocation, displacement and ongoing insecurity affect families and may exacerbate household violence.
Methods:
Employing purposive sampling, we used photo elicitation methods to facilitate semi-structured, in-depth interviews with female and male adolescents and adults aged 13-75 (n = 73) in two districts in Colombia from May to August of 2017. Participants were displaced and/or residing in neighborhoods characterized by high levels of insecurity from armed groups.
Results:
Using inductive thematic analysis and situating the analysis within a feminist socioecological framework, we found several shared drivers of household violence. Intersections among drivers at all socioecological levels occurred among societal gender norms, substance use, attempts to regulate women's and children's behavior with violence, and daily stressors associated with numerous community problems. A central theme of relocation was of family compositions that were in continual flux and of family members confronted by economic insecurity and increased access to substances.
Conclusions:
Findings suggest interventions that systemically consider families' struggles with relocation and violence with multifaceted attention to socioecological intersections.
The objectives of this mixed methods study, which included surveys, focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, ethnographic observation and mapping were to determine the impact of the disaster on affected communities, assess their perceived needs, and identify and map local resources and assets that are critical for an equitable recovery and reconstruction in the southern region of Haiti.
Intimate partner violence (IPV) and child abuse (CA) are two forms of family violence with shared qualities and risk factors, and are forms of violence that tend to overlap. Acceptability of violence in partner relationships is a known risk factor in IPV just as acceptability of parent–child aggression is a risk factor in CA. We hypothesized that these acceptability attitudes may be linked and represent the expression of a general, underlying nonspecific acceptance of violence in close family relationships. The sample involved 164 male IPV offenders participating in a batterer intervention program. Implicit measures, which assess constructs covertly to minimize response distortions, were administered to assess acceptability of partner violence against women and acceptability of parent–child aggression. To determine whether acceptability attitudes regarding both forms of violence were related to a higher order construct tapping general acceptance of family violence, Bayesian confirmatory factor analyses were conducted. Findings supported a hierarchical (bifactor) model with a general factor expressing a nonspecific acceptance of family violence, and two specific factors reflecting acceptability of violence in intimate partner and parent–child relationships, respectively. This hierarchical model supporting a general acceptance of violence in close family relationships can inform future research aiming to better understand the connections between IPV and CA.
While intimate partner violence (IPV) against women and violence against children (VAC) have emerged as distinct fields of research and programming, a growing number of studies demonstrate the extent to which these forms of violence overlap in the same households. However, existing knowledge of how and why such co-occurrence takes place is limited, particularly in the Global South. The current study aims to advance empirical and conceptual understanding of intersecting IPV and VAC within families in order to inform potential programming. We explore shared perceptions and experiences of IPV and VAC using qualitative data collected in December 2016 from adults and children in Kampala, Uganda (n = 106). We find that the patriarchal family structure creates an environment that normalizes many forms of violence, simultaneously infantilizing women and reinforcing their subordination (alongside children). Based on participant experiences, we identify four potential patterns that suggest how IPV and VAC not only co-occur, but more profoundly intersect within the family, triggering cycles of emotional and physical abuse: bystander trauma, negative role modeling, protection and further victimization, and displaced aggression. The discussion is situated within a feminist analysis, including careful consideration of maternal violence and an emphasis on the ways in which gender and power dynamics can coalesce and contribute to intra-family violence.
Intimate partner violence (IPV) and child maltreatment (CM) by a parent or caregiver are prevalent and overlapping issues with damaging consequences for those affected. This scoping review aimed to identify opportunities for greater coordination between IPV and CM programmes in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). Nine bibliographic databases were searched and grey literature was identified through the scoping review team. Eligible studies were published in English; described primary prevention programmes in LMIC that addressed IPV and CM, or addressed one form of violence, but reported outcomes for the other; reported IPV and CM outcomes; and evaluated with any study design. Six studies were identified published between 2013 and 2016 (four randomised controlled trials, one pre-post non-randomised study and one qualitative study). Programmes were based in South Africa (2), Uganda, (2), Liberia (1) and Thailand (1). All except one were delivered within parenting programmes. The emphasis on gender norms varied between programmes. Some parenting programmes addressed gender inequity indirectly by promoting joint decision-making and open communication between caregivers. Conclusions are tentative due to the small evidence base and methodological weaknesses. More robust evaluations are needed. Improved coherence between IPV and CM programmes requires equal attention to the needs of women and children, and the involvement of fathers when it is safe to do so.
Little is known about the patterns and mechanisms by which humanitarian emergencies may exacerbate violence against children. In this article, we propose using the ecological framework to examine the impact of humanitarian emergencies on interpersonal violence against children. We consider the literature that supports this framework and suggest future directions for research to fill identified gaps in the framework. The relationship between humanitarian emergencies and violence against children depends on risk factors at multiple levels, including a breakdown of child protection systems, displacement, threats to livelihoods, changing gender roles, changing household composition, overcrowded living conditions, early marriage, exposure to conflict or other emergency events, and alcohol abuse. The empirical evidence supporting the proposed emergency/violence framework is limited by cross-sectional study designs and a propensity to predominantly examine individual-level determinants of violence, especially exposure to conflict or emergency events. Thus, there is a pressing need to contextualize the relationship between conflict or emergency events and violence against children within the wider ecological and household dynamics that occur during humanitarian emergencies. Ultimately, this will require longitudinal observations of children, families and communities from before the emergency through recovery and improvements to ongoing global surveillance systems. More complete data will enable the humanitarian community to design effective, appropriate and well-targeted interventions.
This article examines disaster preparedness and community responses to Hurricane Matthew. Based on an ethnographic study conducted in the department of Grande-Anse one week after the hurricane made landfall in Haiti, the article focuses on the perspectives of citizens, community-based associations and local authorities in the affected areas, in order to establish whether or not lessons learned from previous disasters, particularly the 2010 earthquake, have been applied to prepare for and respond to Hurricane Matthew. Sixty-three (63) interviews and 8 community meetings were conducted in 11 impacted sites in 8 communes. Results suggest that preexisting conditions in impacted communities, rather than deliberate and coordinate strategies, shaped levels of preparedness for and response to the disaster. Affected populations relied primarily on family networks and local forms of solidarity to attend basic needs for shelter, health and food exacerbated by the disaster. The main argument presented is that Haiti, by virtue of its geographic location, lack of resources, institutional fragility and vulnerability, must systematically integrate community-based assets and capacities in its responses to and management of disasters. Further, it is critical for the government, Haitian institutions, and society to apply integrated risk reduction and management and disaster preparedness measures in all aspects of life, if the country is to survive the many disasters to come in a time of climate change. These measures should be embedded in recovery and reconstruction efforts after Hurricane Matthew.
The international community recognises violence against women (VAW) and violence against children (VAC) as global human rights and public health problems. Historically, research, programmes, and policies on these forms of violence followed parallel but distinct trajectories. Some have called for efforts to bridge these gaps, based in part on evidence that individuals and families often experience multiple forms of violence that may be difficult to address in isolation, and that violence in childhood elevates the risk of violence against women.
This article presents a narrative review of evidence on intersections between VAC and VAW - including sexual violence by non-partners, with an emphasis on low- and middle-income countries.
We identify and review evidence for six intersections: 1) VAC and VAW have many shared risk factors. 2) Social norms often support VAW and VAC and discourage help-seeking. 3) Child maltreatment and partner violence often co-occur within the same household. 4) Both VAC and VAW can produce intergenerational effects. 5) Many forms of VAC and VAW have common and compounding consequences across the lifespan. 6) VAC and VAW intersect during adolescence, a time of heightened vulnerability to certain kinds of violence.
Evidence of common correlates suggests that consolidating efforts to address shared risk factors may help prevent both forms of violence. Common consequences and intergenerational effects suggest a need for more integrated early intervention. Adolescence falls between and within traditional domains of both fields and deserves greater attention. Opportunities for greater collaboration include preparing service providers to address multiple forms of violence, better coordination between services for women and for children, school-based strategies, parenting programmes, and programming for adolescent health and development. There is also a need for more coordination among researchers working on VAC and VAW as countries prepare to measure progress towards 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
Objective
To determine the impact of intimate partner violence against women on children’s growth and nutritional status in low- and middle-income countries.
Methods
We pooled records from 42 demographic and health surveys in 29 countries. Data on maternal lifetime exposure to physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner, socioeconomic and demographic characteristics were collected. We used logistic regression models to determine the association between intimate partner violence and child stunting and wasting.
Findings
Prior exposure to intimate partner violence was reported by 69 652 (34.1%) of the 204 159 ever-married women included in our analysis. After adjusting for a range of characteristics, stunting in children was found to be positively associated with maternal lifetime exposure to only physical (adjusted odds ratio, aOR: 1.11; 95% confidence interval, CI: 1.09–1.14) or sexual intimate partner violence (aOR: 1.09; 95% CI: 1.05–1.13) and to both forms of such violence (aOR: 1.10; 95% CI: 1.05–1.14). The associations between stunting and intimate partner violence were stronger in urban areas than in rural ones, for mothers who had low levels of education than for women with higher levels of education, and in middle-income countries than in low-income countries. We also found a small negative association between wasting and intimate partner violence (aOR: 0.94; 95%CI: 0.90–0.98).
Conclusion
Intimate partner violence against women remains common in low- and middle-income countries and is highly detrimental to women and to the growth of the affected women’s children. Policy and programme efforts are needed to reduce the prevalence and impact of such violence.
Natural disasters have inherently social dimensions because they exacerbate preexisting inequalities and disrupt social norms and institutions. Despite a growing interest in the sociological aspects of disasters, few studies have quantitatively explored how disasters alter intrahousehold family dynamics. In this article, we develop and test a conceptual framework that explicates how natural disasters affect an important component of family life: intimate partner violence (IPV). We combine two waves of geocoded Demographic and Health Surveys data, collected before and after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, with spatial data on variation in the earthquake's destruction. Our findings indicate that exposure to earthquake devastation increased the probability of both physical and sexual IPV one to two years following the disaster. These increases were accompanied by substantial changes in family functioning, the household economy, and women's access to their social networks. Select household-level experiences during and after the earthquake, such as displacement, were also positively associated with IPV. These findings provide new insights into the multidimensional effects of disasters on family life and have important theoretical and policy implications that extend beyond the particular case of Haiti. Language: en
This study explores risk factors, individual and family consequences and community-driven responses to intimate partner violence (IPV) in post-conflict eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This qualitative study was conducted in 3 rural villages in South Kivu Province of DRC, an area that has experienced prolonged conflict. Participants included 13 female survivors and 5 male perpetrators of IPV as reported during baseline data collection for the parent study, an impact evaluation of the Congolese-led livestock microfinance program, Pigs for Peace. Participants described social and behavioral circumstances that increase risk for IPV; social, health and economic consequences on women and their families; and resources to protect women and their families. Social and behavioral factors reported by survivors and perpetrators indicate that IPV was linked to husband's alcohol consumption, household economic instability, male desire to maintain his position as head of family and perceived disrespect of husband by wife. In addition to well-known health consequences of IPV, women reported negative social consequences, such as stigma, resulting in barriers for the well-being of the family. Survivors and perpetrators described the impact of IPV on their children, specifically the lack of proper parental guidance and lack of safety and stability that could result in the child(ren) misbehaving and using violence in their relationships resulting in further stigma towards the child and family. Strategies employed by survivors to protect themselves and family, include placating male behaviors (e.g., not responding to insults, trying to meet household demands). Perpetrators that tried to reduce the impact of IPV reported a preference for social and financial control of their partner rather than physical violence, believing this to be less severe. Participants described community and family based social support systems including couple's mediation, responsible partner and fatherhood programs and economic activities that can influence behavior, maintain confidentiality, address social stigma and other multi-level outcomes.
This article uses a set of case histories to describe the physical and social terrain of violence in Cité Soleil, Haiti, before and after the January 2010 earthquake. Employing empirical data, it aims to interrogate our standard categorization and analysis of violence and of community responses to violence. The study is guided by the practical questions of how individuals and groups navigate and respond to the ever-changing configurations of violence in their neighborhoods. This violence is considered both as specific to Haiti in its details and as an exemplar of a general problem that afflicts nations that are marginal to, and marginalized by, current processes of globalization.
Violence against women and girls is prevalent worldwide but historically has been overlooked and condoned. Growing international recognition of these violations creates opportunities for elimination, although solutions will not be quick or easy. Governments need to address the political, social, and economic structures that subordinate women, and implement national plans and make budget commitments to invest in actions by multiple sectors to prevent and respond to abuse. Emphasis on prevention is crucial. Community and group interventions involving women and men can shift discriminatory social norms to reduce the risk of violence. Education and empowerment of women are fundamental. Health workers should be trained to identify and support survivors and strategies to address violence should be integrated into services for child health, maternal, sexual, and reproductive health, mental health, HIV, and alcohol or substance abuse. Research to learn how to respond to violence must be strengthened. The elimination of violence against women and girls is central to equitable and sustainable social and economic development and must be prioritised in the agenda for development after 2015.
Copyright © 2014 World Health Organization. Published by Elsevier Ltd/Inc/BV. All rights reserved. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Violence against women is a widespread societal problem substantiated and perpetuated through inequities that operate within numerous levels of the society. Challenging and ending gender-based violence therefore requires addressing social structures that perpetuate gendered hierarchies and maintain women’s susceptibility to experiencing violence worldwide. The present study examines novel approaches taken by women in two different countries in the Global South, one in Nicaragua and another in Tanzania, to examine macro-level processes involved in land ownership in regions where owning land is a marker of dominance. Using data from 492 women, results from structural equation models and qualitative thematic analyses demonstrate significant links among women’s ownership of land, relationship power, and receipt of physical and psychological violence in both the countries. Collectively, the findings suggest that when women own land, they gain power within their relationships and are less likely to experience violence. Implications for theoretical conceptualizations of eradicating violence against women and practical interventions are discussed.
Refugees and internally displaced persons are highly vulnerable to sexual violence during conflict and subsequent displacement. However, accurate estimates of the prevalence of sexual violence among in these populations remain uncertain.
Our objective was to estimate the prevalence of sexual violence among refugees and displaced persons in complex humanitarian emergencies.
We conducted systematic review of relevant literature in multiple databases (EMBASE, CINAHL, and MEDLINE) through February 2013 to identify studies. We also reviewed reference lists of included articles to identify any missing sources.
Inclusion criteria required identification of sexual violence among refugees and internally displaced persons or those displaced by conflict in complex humanitarian settings. Studies were excluded if they did not provide female sexual violence prevalence, or that included only single case reports, anecdotes, and those that focused on displacement associated with natural disasters. After a review of 1175 citations 19 unique studies were selected. Data Extraction: Two reviewers worked independently to identify final selection and a third reviewer adjudicated any differences. Descriptive and quantitative information was extracted; prevalence estimates were synthesized. Heterogeneity was assessed using I2.
The main outcome of interest was sexual violence among female refugees and internally displaced persons in complex humanitarian settings.
The prevalence of sexual violence was estimated at 21.4% (95% CI, 14.9-28.7; I2=98.3%), using a random effects model. Statistical heterogeneity was noted with studies using probability sampling designs reporting lower prevalence of sexual violence (21.0%, 95% CI, 13.2-30.1; I2=98.6%), compared to lower quality studies (21.7%, 95% CI, 11.5-34.2; I2=97.4%). We could not rule out the presence of publication bias.
The findings suggest that approximately one in five refugees or displaced women in complex humanitarian settings experienced sexual violence. However, this is likely an underestimation of the true prevalence given the multiple existing barriers associated with disclosure. The long-term health and social consequences of sexual violence for women and their families necessitate strategies to improve identification of survivors of sexual violence and increase prevention and response interventions in these complex settings.
Gender-based violence against women, including intimate partner violence (IPV), is a pervasive health and human rights concern. However, relatively little intervention research has been conducted on how to reduce IPV in settings impacted by conflict. The current study reports on the evaluation of the incremental impact of adding "gender dialogue groups" to an economic empowerment group savings program on levels of IPV. This study took place in north and northwestern rural Cote d'Ivoire.
Between 2010 and 2012, we conducted a two-armed, non-blinded randomized-controlled trial (RCT) comparing t group savings only (control) to "gender dialogue groups" added to group savings (treatment). The gender dialogue group consisted of eight sessions that targeted women and their male partner. Eligible Ivorian women (18+ years, no prior experience with group savings) were invited to participate. 934 out of 981 (95.2%) partnered women completed baseline and endline data collection. The primary trial outcome measure was an overall measure of past-year physical and/or sexual IPV. Past year physical IPV, sexual IPV, and economic abuse were also separately assessed, as were attitudes towards justification of wife beating and a woman's ability to refuse sex with her husband.
Intent to treat analyses revealed that compared to groups savings alone, the addition of gender dialogue groups resulted in a slightly lower odds of reporting past year physical and/or sexual IPV (OR: 0.92; 95% CI: 0.58, 1.47; not statistically significant). Reductions in reporting of physical IPV and sexual IPV were also observed (not statistically significant). Women in the treatment group were significantly less likely to report economic abuse than control group counterparts (OR = 0.39; 95% CI: 0.25, 0.60, p < .0001). Acceptance of wife beating was significantly reduced among the treatment group (beta = -0.97; 95%CI: -1.67, -0.28, p = 0.006), while attitudes towards refusal of sex did not significantly change Per protocol analysis suggests that compared to control women, treatment women attending more than 75% of intervention sessions with their male partner were less likely to report physical IPV (a OR: 0.45; 95% CI: 0.21, 0.94; p = .04) and report fewer justifications for wife beating (adjusted beta = -1.14; 95%CI: -2.01, -0.28, p = 0.01) ; and both low and high adherent women reported significantly decreased economic abuse (a OR: 0.31; 95% CI: 0.18, 0.52, p < 0.0001; a OR: 0.47; 95% CI: 0.27, 0.81, p = 01, respectively). No significant reductions were observed for physical and/or sexual IPV, or sexual IPV alone.
Results from this pilot RCT suggest the importance of addressing household gender inequities alongside economic programming, because this type of combined intervention has potential to reduce levels of IPV. Additional large-scale intervention research is needed to replicate these findings.Trial registrationRegistration Number: NCT01629472.
This paper reports on the use of a "neighborhood method" to measure the nature and incidence of violence against women and girls in post-conflict Liberia.
The study population comprised females in Montserrado and Nimba counties. Study participants were randomly selected for interviews using multi-stage cluster sampling. 30 clusters of households were sampled in each county. Information on incidents of domestic violence and rape within the preceding 18 months was collected with regard to females of all ages in the respondent's household, and those of her four closest neighbors to make up the full sample.
Households in the sample contained 7015 females (1687 girls, 4586 women, 742 age missing) in Montserrado and 6632 (2070 girls, 4167 women, 95 age missing) in Nimba. In the previous 18 months 54.1% (CI 53.1-55.1) and 55.8% (CI 54.8-56.8) of females in Montserrado and Nimba respectively were indicated to have experienced non-sexual domestic abuse; 19.4% (CI 18.6-20.2) and 26.0% (CI 25.1-26.9) of females in Montserrado and Nimba respectively to have been raped outside of marriage; and 72.3% (CI 70.7-73.9) and 73.8% (CI 72.0-75.7) of married or separated women in Montserrado and Nimba respectively to have experienced marital rape. Husbands and boyfriends were reported as the perpetrators of the vast majority of reported violence. Strangers were reported to account for less than 2% of the perpetrators of rape in either county. Incidents were most commonly disclosed to other family members or to friends and neighbors, and less often to formal authorities such as the police, court or community leaders. Incidents were approaching fifty times more likely to be reported to police if perpetrated by strangers rather than intimate partners.
Violence against women and girls is widespread in the areas studied. Programming needs to address the fact that this violence is primarily occurring in the household, where most incidents go unreported outside the immediate family or social circle. Police and hospital reports severely under-represent these known perpetrators. Inter-interviewer variance and differences in reports for self and neighbors for some outcomes caution the precision and validity of some estimates. However, the potential utility of the neighborhood method for estimating prevalence rates with an accuracy suitable for programmatic purposes in conflict-affected and post-conflict settings is noted.
When conducting photo elicitation interviews (PEI), researchers introduce photographs into the interview context. Although PEI has been employed across a wide variety of disciplines and participants, little has been written about the use of photographs in interviews with children. In this article, the authors review the use of PEI in a research study that explored the perspectives on camp of children with cancer. In particular, they review some of the methodological and ethical challenges, including (a) who should take the photographs and (b) how the photographs should be integrated into the interview. Although some limitations exist, PEI in its various forms can challenge participants, trigger memory, lead to new perspectives, and assist with building trust and rapport.
Proposes a broader approach to research in human development that focuses on the progressive accommodation, throughout the life span, between the growing human organism and the changing environments in which it actually lives and grows. The latter include not only the immediate settings containing the developing person but also the larger social contexts, both formal and informal, in which these settings are embedded. In terms of method, the approach emphasizes the use of rigorously designed experiments, both naturalistic and contrived, beginning in the early stages of the research process. The changing relation between person and environment is conceived in systems terms. These systems properties are set forth in a series of propositions, each illustrated by concrete research examples. (1¼ p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This article explores the ways soldiers in the Congo speak about the massive amount of rape committed by the armed forces in the recent war in the DRC. It focuses on the reasons that the soldiers give to why rape occurs. It discusses how the soldiers distinguish between “lust rapes” and “evil rapes” and argues that their explanations of rape must be understood in relation to notions of different (impossible) masculinities. Ultimately, through reading the soldiers’ words, we can glimpse the logics—arguably informed by the increasingly globalized context of soldiering—through which rape becomes possible, and even “normalized” in particular warscapes.
A general inductive approach for analysis of qualitative evaluation data is described. The purposes for using an inductive approach are to (a) condense raw textual data into a brief, summary format; (b) establish clear links between the evaluation or research objectives and the summary findings derived from the raw data; and (c) develop a framework of the underlying structure of experiences or processes that are evident in the raw data. The general inductive approach provides an easily used and systematic set of procedures for analyzing qualitative data that can produce reliable and valid findings. Although the general inductive approach is not as strong as some other analytic strategies for theory or model development, it does provide a simple, straightforward approach for deriving findings in the context of focused evaluation questions. Many evaluators are likely to find using a general inductive approach less complicated than using other approaches to qualitative data analysis.
Over the past two decades, we have seen an international shift in perspectives concerning the physical punishment of children. In 1990, research showing an association between physical punishment and negative developmental outcomes was starting to accumulate, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child had just been adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations; however, only four countries had prohibited physical punishment in all settings. By 2000, research was proliferating, and the convention had been ratified by 191 of the world's 196 countries, 11 of which had prohibited all physical punishment. Today, research showing the risks associated with physical punishment is robust, the convention has been integrated into the legal and policy frameworks of many nations, and 31 countries have enacted prohibitions against the physical punishment of children.(1) These three forces - research, the convention and law reform - have altered the landscape of physical punishment. The growing weight of evidence and the re cognition of children's rights have brought us to a historical point. Physicians familiar with the research can now confidently encourage parents to adopt constructive approaches to discipline and can comfortably use their unique influence to guide other aspects of children's healthy development. In doing so, physicians strengthen child well-being and parent-child relationships at the population level. Here, we present an analysis of the research on physical punishment spanning the past two decades to assist physicians in this important role.
Current methods to estimate the incidence of gender-based violence in complex emergencies tend to rely on nonprobability samples. Population-based monitoring is undertaken relatively infrequently. This article provides a systematic review of published literature that represents attempts to quantify the magnitude of gender-based violence in emergency settings. Searches adopted a Boolean procedure, which led to initial selection of material that was then reviewed against set criteria. Only 10 studies met the final criteria for inclusion. Intimate partner violence, physical violence, and rape were the three categories of violence most frequently measured. Rates of intimate partner violence tended to be quite high across all of the studies-much higher than most of the rates of wartime rape and sexual violence perpetrated by individuals outside of the home. Direct comparisons of rates of violence were hindered by different case definitions, recall periods, and other methodological features. Recommendations for future studies are offered based on lessons learned from the studies reviewed.
Intimate partner violence (IPV) against women is a global public health and human rights concern. Despite a growing body of research into risk factors for IPV, methodological differences limit the extent to which comparisons can be made between studies. We used data from ten countries included in the WHO Multi-country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence to identify factors that are consistently associated with abuse across sites, in order to inform the design of IPV prevention programs.
Standardised population-based household surveys were done between 2000 and 2003. One woman aged 15-49 years was randomly selected from each sampled household. Those who had ever had a male partner were asked about their experiences of physically and sexually violent acts. We performed multivariate logistic regression to identify predictors of physical and/or sexual partner violence within the past 12 months.
Despite wide variations in the prevalence of IPV, many factors affected IPV risk similarly across sites. Secondary education, high SES, and formal marriage offered protection, while alcohol abuse, cohabitation, young age, attitudes supportive of wife beating, having outside sexual partners, experiencing childhood abuse, growing up with domestic violence, and experiencing or perpetrating other forms of violence in adulthood, increased the risk of IPV. The strength of the association was greatest when both the woman and her partner had the risk factor.
IPV prevention programs should increase focus on transforming gender norms and attitudes, addressing childhood abuse, and reducing harmful drinking. Development initiatives to improve access to education for girls and boys may also have an important role in violence prevention.
Despite a high prevalence of intimate partner violence in South Africa, few epidemiological studies have assessed individual risk factors and differential vulnerability by gender. This study seeks to analyze gender differences in risk for intimate partner violence victimization and perpetration according to childhood and adult risk factors in a national sample of South African men and women. Using data from the cross-sectional, nationally representative South Africa Stress and Health Study, the authors examine data from 1,715 currently married or cohabiting adults on reporting of intimate partner violence. Our analysis include (a) demographic factors, (b) early life risk factors (including exposure to childhood physical abuse, witnessing parental violence, parental closeness, and early onset DSM-IV disorders), and (c) adult risk factors (including experiencing the death of a child and episodes of DSM-IV disorders after age 20). Although prevalence rates of intimate partner violence are high among both genders, women are significantly more likely than men to report being victimized (29.3% vs. 20.9%). Rates of perpetrating violence are similar for women and men (25.2% and 26.5%, respectively). Men are more likely to report predictive factors for perpetration, whereas women are more likely to report predictors for victimization. Common risk factors among men and women reporting perpetration include exposure to childhood physical abuse, witnessing parental violence, and adult onset alcohol abuse/dependence. However, risk factors in male perpetrators are more likely to include cohabitation, low income, and early and adult-onset mood disorders, whereas risk factors in female perpetrators include low educational attainment and early onset alcohol abuse/dependence. The single common risk factor for male and female victims of partner violence is witnessing parental violence. Additional risk factors for male victims are low income and lack of closeness to a primary female caregiver, whereas additional risk factors for female victims are low educational attainment, childhood physical abuse, and adult onset alcohol abuse/dependence and intermittent explosive disorder. Intimate partner violence is a significant public health issue in South Africa, strongly linked to intergenerational cycling of violence and risk exposure across the life course. These findings indicate that gender differences in risk and common predictive factors, such as alcohol abuse and exposure to childhood violence, should inform the design of future violence-prevention programs and policies.
This study sought to establish the prevalence and correlates of intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization in the 6 months before and after Hurricane Katrina. Participants were 445 married or cohabiting persons who were living in the 23 southernmost counties of Mississippi at the time of Hurricane Katrina. Data for this study were collected as part of a larger, population-based, representative study. The percentage of women reporting psychological victimization increased from 33.6% prior to Hurricane Katrina to 45.2% following Hurricane Katrina (p < .001). The percentage of men reporting psychological victimization increased from 36.7% to 43.1% (p = .01). Reports of physical victimization increased from 4.2% to 8.3% for women (p = .01) but were unchanged for men. Significant predictors of post-Katrina victimization included pre-Katrina victimization, age, educational attainment, marital status, and hurricane-related stressors. Reports of IPV were associated with greater risk of post-Katrina depression and posttraumatic stress disorder. Data from the first population-based study to document IPV following a large-scale natural disaster suggest that IPV may be an important but often overlooked public health concern following disasters.
Despite concern, few studies have been done about sexual violence against girls younger than 18 years of age in sub-Saharan Africa. We report the prevalence and circumstances of sexual violence in girls in Swaziland, and assess the negative health consequences.
We obtained data from a nationally representative sample of girls and women aged 13-24 years from selected households in Swaziland between May 15, 2007, and June 16, 2007, with a two-stage cluster design. The questionnaire examined demographics, type of sexual violence that took place before the respondent was 18 years of age, circumstances of the incident, and health-related conditions. Information was gathered from 1244 women and girls (response rate 96.3%), of whom 1242 provided retrospective responses to questions about sexual violence. We used regression models adjusted for relevant demographics to estimate the odds ratios for the associations between sexual violence and health-related conditions.
33.2% (95% CI 29.9-36.7) of respondents reported an incident of sexual violence before they reached 18 years of age. The most common perpetrators of the first incident were men or boys from the respondent's neighbourhood (32.3% [28.8-36.1]) and boyfriends or husbands (26.2% [22.2-30.7]). The first incident most often took place in the respondent's own home (26.1% [21.6-31.2]). Sexual violence was associated with reported lifetime experience of sexually transmitted diseases (adjusted OR 3.69 [95% CI 1.78-7.66]), pregnancy complications or miscarriages (3.54 [1.47-8.55]), unwanted pregnancy (2.92 [1.87-4.55]), and self-report of feeling depressed (2.30 [1.70-3.11]).
Knowledge of the high prevalence of sexual violence against girls in Swaziland and its associated serious health-related conditions and behaviours should be used to develop effective prevention strategies.
UNICEF.
More than 90% of violence-related deaths occur in low- to middle-income countries (LMICs), where the mortality rate due to violence is almost 2.5 times greater than in high-income countries. Over and above the substantial contribution of violence as a cause of death and physical injuries, victims of violence are also more vulnerable to a range of mental and physical health problems. Several studies describe the deleterious impact of different types of violence on a range of health outcomes, but no review has yet been undertaken that presents a composite overview of the current state of knowledge in LMICs. This paper reviews the scientific literature describing the nature, magnitude and impact of violence on health, describing the current state of violence-prevention policy developments within the global health agenda and highlighting the health consequences, disease burden and economic costs of violence. Although data are limited, the review indicates that costs relating to violence deplete health care budgets considerably and that scarce resources could be better used to address other health threats that hamper development.
Sierra Leone's decade-long conflict has cost tens of thousands of lives and all parties to the conflict have committed abuses.
To assess the prevalence and impact of war-related sexual violence and other human rights abuses among internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sierra Leone.
A cross-sectional, randomized survey, using structured interviews and questionnaires, of internally displaced Sierra Leone women who were living in 3 IDP camps and 1 town, which were conducted over a 4-week period in 2001.
A total of 991 women provided information on 9166 household members. The mean (SE) age of the respondents was 34 (0.48) years (range, 14-80 years). The majority of the women sampled were poorly educated (mean [SE], 1.9 [0.11] years of formal education); 814 were Muslim (82%), and 622 were married (63%).
Accounts of war-related sexual assault and other human rights abuses.
Overall, 13% (1157) of household members reported incidents of war-related human rights abuses in the last 10 years, including abductions, beatings, killings, sexual assaults and other abuses. Ninety-four (9%) of 991 respondents and 396 (8%) of 5001 female household members reported war-related sexual assaults. The lifetime prevalence of non-war-related sexual assault committed by family members, friends, or civilians among these respondents was also 9%, which increased to 17% with the addition of war-related sexual assaults (excluding 1% of participants who reported both war-related and non-war-related sexual assault). Eighty-seven percent of women believed that there should be legal protection for women's human rights. More than 60% of respondents believed a man has a right to beat his wife if she disobeys, and that it is a wife's duty/obligation to have sex with her husband even if she does not want to.
Sexual violence committed by combatants in Sierra Leone was widespread and was perpetrated in the context of a high level of human rights abuses against the civilian population.
This article encourages the widespread adoption of an integrated, ecological framework for understanding the origins of gender-based violence. An ecological approach to abuse conceptualizes violence as a multifaceted phenomenon grounded in an interplay among personal, situational, and sociocultural factors. Although drawing on the conceptual advances of earlier theorists, this article goes beyond their work in three significant ways. First, it uses the ecological framework as a heuristic tool to organize the existing research base into an intelligible whole. Whereas other theorists present the framework as a way to think about violence, few have attempted to establish what factors emerge as predictive of abuse at each level of the social ecology. Second, this article integrates results from international and cross-cultural research together with findings from North American social science. And finally, the framework draws from findings related to all types of physical and sexual abuse of women to encourage a more integrated approach to theory building regarding gender-based abuse.
This study examined risk factors associated with alcohol use in the past 3 months among young men aged 15–24 in Haiti using data from the 2000 Enquête Mortalité, Morbidité et Utilization des Services. Findings indicate that life‐time smoking, multiple sexual partnerships, witnessing inter‐parental conflict in childhood, disruption of parental monitoring, and residing in communities with high levels of youth drinking differentiated experimenters from abstainers. Youth out‐of‐school employment and co‐residence with adults who had a history of drunkenness were among risk factors associated with regular alcohol use. The greater was the number of risk factors to which a young man was exposed, the higher were the probabilities of alcohol experimentation and regular use. The findings call for prevention strategies at the family and community levels and for initiatives that focus on sexual and non‐sexual individual behaviour change.
Interpersonal violence against women and children has increasingly been recognized as a public health priority in humanitarian emergencies. However, because the household is generally considered a private sphere, violence between family members remains neglected. A systematic literature review was conducted to identify predictors of household violence in humanitarian emergencies. PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus were searched from January 1, 1998, to February 16, 2016. A predictor was defined as any individual, household, or community-level exposure that increases or decreases the risk associated with physical, sexual, or emotional interpersonal violence between two or more people living together. All studies reporting on quantitative research were eligible for inclusion. Results were analyzed using qualitative synthesis. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines were followed as applicable. The search strategy resulted in 2,587 original records, of which 33 studies met inclusion criteria. Thirty-two of the 33 studies used a cross-sectional design. This was the first known systematic review of predictors of household violence in humanitarian settings. The household framework drew attention to several factors that are associated with violence against both women and children, including conflict exposure, alcohol and drug use, income/economic status, mental health/coping strategies, and limited social support. There is a need for longitudinal research and experimental designs that can better establish temporality between exposures and household violence outcomes, control for confounding, and inform practice. In the interim, programmers and policy makers should try to leverage the predictors identified by this review for integrated violence prevention and response strategies, with the important caveat that ongoing evaluation of such strategies is needed.
This study builds on prior cross-national criminological literature by using disaggregated measures of democracy, notably rule of law, to examine the influence key components of democracy have on homicide rates. To assess this relationship, the current study uses two measures of rule of law: (a) a measurement of an independent judiciary; (b) a measurement of “Law and Order Tradition” from the International Country Risk Guide (ICRG). Findings indicate that the measures of rule of law have a significant negative effect on homicide rates.
This study assessed whether a violence-prevention curriculum was associated with increased knowledge of dating violence (DV) among students in grades 10–12 in two high schools in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. A one-group pretest–posttest study was conducted from November to December 2013. Two hundred and nine students with non-missing data completed a pretest exam and a posttest exam five weeks later. Multivariable logistic and simple linear regression models were used to test for differences in knowledge outcomes over time and interactive associations, with controls for student and school characteristics. Pretest levels of knowledge of DV were low. The analysis revealed that the probability of each binary DV knowledge outcome and the adjusted number of correctly identified DV myths and facts were significantly higher at posttest than at pretest. Gender differences were observed, with female students having a significantly higher probability than male students of knowing two warning signs of DV perpetration and a significantly higher number of correctly identified DV myths and facts. Being taught the curriculum by a female teacher was positively associated with knowledge of two warning signs of DV perpetration, two ways to help friends in abusive relationships, and two ways to protect oneself from sexual assault. However, having a female teacher was negatively associated with the number of correctly identified DV myths and facts, especially at posttest. The findings were favorable for the adaptation and adoption of the curriculum by other schools in Haiti in order to increase awareness of DV and its prevention, and called for examination of factors underlying gender differences.
Democratic Insecurities focuses on the ethics of military and humanitarian intervention in Haiti during and after Haiti's 1991 coup. In this remarkable ethnography of violence, Erica Caple James explores the traumas of Haitian victims whose experiences were denied by U.S. officials and recognized only selectively by other humanitarian providers. Using vivid first-person accounts from women survivors, James raises important new questions about humanitarian aid, structural violence, and political insecurity. She discusses the politics of postconflict assistance to Haiti and the challenges of promoting democracy, human rights, and justice in societies that experience chronic insecurity. Similarly, she finds that efforts to promote political development and psychosocial rehabilitation may fail because of competition, strife, and corruption among the individuals and institutions that implement such initiatives.
Context Sierra Leone's decade-long conflict has cost tens of thousands of lives
and all parties to the conflict have committed abuses.Objective To assess the prevalence and impact of war-related sexual violence and
other human rights abuses among internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sierra
Leone.Design and Setting A cross-sectional, randomized survey, using structured interviews and
questionnaires, of internally displaced Sierra Leone women who were living
in 3 IDP camps and 1 town, which were conducted over a 4-week period in 2001.Participants A total of 991 women provided information on 9166 household members.
The mean (SE) age of the respondents was 34 (0.48) years (range, 14-80 years).
The majority of the women sampled were poorly educated (mean [SE], 1.9 [0.11]
years of formal education); 814 were Muslim (82%), and 622 were married (63%).Main Outcome Measures Accounts of war-related sexual assault and other human rights abuses.Results Overall, 13% (1157) of household members reported incidents of war-related
human rights abuses in the last 10 years, including abductions, beatings,
killings, sexual assaults and other abuses. Ninety-four (9%) of 991 respondents
and 396 (8%) of 5001 female household members reported war-related sexual
assaults. The lifetime prevalence of non–war-related sexual assault
committed by family members, friends, or civilians among these respondents
was also 9%, which increased to 17% with the addition of war-related sexual
assaults (excluding 1% of participants who reported both war-related and non–war-related
sexual assault). Eighty-seven percent of women believed that there should
be legal protection for women's human rights. More than 60% of respondents
believed a man has a right to beat his wife if she disobeys, and that it is
a wife's duty/obligation to have sex with her husband even if she does not
want to.Conclusions Sexual violence committed by combatants in Sierra Leone was widespread
and was perpetrated in the context of a high level of human rights abuses
against the civilian population.
Statement of purpose Physical violence against children in Haiti is prevalent; however risk and protective factors associated with violence have not been described. Our aim was to identify factors associated with childhood physical violence (CPV) in Haiti.
Methods A population-based national household survey was administered to 13–24 year old Haitians in 2012 to quantify and characterise CPV. A three-stage clustered sample design was utilised, including both standard enumeration areas and internally displaced persons resulting from the 2010 earthquake. A multivariable general linear model with Poisson regression estimated adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR) and risk ratios (aRR).
Results Sixty-four percent of survey respondents experienced physical violence prior to 18 years of age. Factors associated with victimisation included lack of primary school completion (aPR 1.1, 95% CI 1.0–1.2), work as a domestic servant (aPR 1.1, 95% CI 1.1–1.2), three or more moves in the past year (aPR 1.2, 95% CI 1.0–1.4), lifetime emotional violence (aPR 1.4, 95% CI 1.3–1.6) and lifetime sexual violence (aPR 1.3 95% CI 1.2–1.4). Respondents who reported emotional and/or sexual victimisation prior to age 12 were twice as likely to be victims of physical violence later in life (emotional aRR 2.1, 95% CI 1.4–3.0; sexual aRR 2.0, 95% CI 1.2–3.2). Respondents who reported feeling close or very close to their mother reported less CPV compared to respondents who were not close or reported no relationship (aPR 0.85, 95% CI 0.75–0.96).
Conclusion Other victimisation was the most salient risk factor associated with CPV in Haiti.
Significance and contributions This study is the first to describe factors associated with physical violence against children in Haiti on a national level, and can begin to inform targeted approaches to prevention for those at highest risk for victimisation.
This paper explores gender inequalities and transformations following Haiti's devastating 2010 earthquake. Post-disaster experiences of women are located in a wider context of a longer term gender crisis. The paper argues that patterns of gender exclusion occur on multiple levels from the transnational to the local, and identifies gender-specific obstacles in the recovery and reconstruction period. In Haiti, these include meeting family survival needs, violence and exploitation, and class and racially based stigmatisation. The paper concludes with an exploration of the post-disaster organisational and caretaking work of Haitian women. It contends that recognition and support of women's capacities is critical in shifting from short-term relief to longer-term gender transformation.
The 2010 earthquakes in Haiti initiated crises for one of the world's poorest nations. This transpired amidst pervasive, pre-disaster hardships, with the resulting situation described as ‘acute on chronic’ trauma exposure. The current paper provides a description of a dynamic model focused on three factors of consideration for similar crises: cultural context, unfolding traumatic events and developmental processes. Knowledge from developmental psychology can inform humanitarian aid efforts to effectively address the unique needs of children. Recommendations are offered for research, clinical work and policy related to the mental health needs of children where ‘acute on chronic’ conditions exist.
This study explores community-level risk and protective factors for youth violence in Cité Soleil, Port-au-Prince's most violent slum. The youth of Cité Soleil have often been mobilized to violence by powerful actors as tools for achieving political or financial gain. Drawing on a formal survey (N=1,575) and ethnographic data collected between March 2008 and April 2009, we analyze the factors that contributed—and continue to contribute—to making these youth available for such mobilization. Youth frame their experiences in terms of a broader social conflict between the “included” and the “excluded,” and view violence as an effective means of obtaining what is denied to them by society: opportunity, respect, and material benefits. The experiences from Haiti offer important lessons in understanding the community level drivers of youth violence, and can contribute to policy approaches that go beyond stabilization measures toward addressing structural violence. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Sexual violence is a by-product of conflict commonly seen, but poorly addressed, in humanitarian emergencies. Reports reveal that extraordinary numbers of women and girls suffer physical, psychological, and social consequences of sexual violence during conflict, when fleeing conflict, and during displacement. All sectors of the humanitarian community have a role to play in the prevention of and response to sexual violence. Improvements are needed: in the short-term to meet the needs of survivors of sexual violence; in collecting data related to sexual violence in humanitarian emergencies; and, perhaps most importantly, to address the widespread tolerance for high rates of sexual violence in humanitarian settings.
Child maltreatment remains a major public-health and social-welfare problem in high-income countries. Every year, about 4-16% of children are physically abused and one in ten is neglected or psychologically abused. During childhood, between 5% and 10% of girls and up to 5% of boys are exposed to penetrative sexual abuse, and up to three times this number are exposed to any type of sexual abuse. However, official rates for substantiated child maltreatment indicate less than a tenth of this burden. Exposure to multiple types and repeated episodes of maltreatment is associated with increased risks of severe maltreatment and psychological consequences. Child maltreatment substantially contributes to child mortality and morbidity and has longlasting effects on mental health, drug and alcohol misuse (especially in girls), risky sexual behaviour, obesity, and criminal behaviour, which persist into adulthood. Neglect is at least as damaging as physical or sexual abuse in the long term but has received the least scientific and public attention. The high burden and serious and long-term consequences of child maltreatment warrant increased investment in preventive and therapeutic strategies from early childhood.
Intimate partner violence, which describes physical or sexual assault, or both, of a spouse or sexual intimate, is a common health-care issue. In this article, I have reviewed research on the mental and physical health sequelae of such violence. Increased health problems such as injury, chronic pain, gastrointestinal, and gynaecological signs including sexually-transmitted diseases, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder are well documented by controlled research in abused women in various settings. Intimate partner violence has been noted in 3-13% of pregnancies in many studies from around the world, and is associated with detrimental outcomes to mothers and infants. I recommend increased assessment and interventions for intimate partner violence in health-care settings.
This study examined individual, partner, and community characteristics associated with the occurrence of intimate partner violence among ever-married women of reproductive age, using data from the 2000 Haiti Demographic and Health Survey. Separate logistic regressions were analyzed to assess women's risks of experiencing emotional, physical and sexual violence and multiple forms of intimate partner violence in the past 12 months. Twenty-nine percent of women in the sample experienced some form of intimate partner violence in the past 12 months, with 13 percent having experienced at least two different forms of violence. Significant positive associations with all forms of violence were found for lack of completion of primary school, history of violence exposure in women's families of origin either through witnessing violence between parents while growing up or direct experience of physical violence perpetrated by family members, partner's jealousy, partner's need for control, partner's history of drunkenness, and female-dominated financial decision-making. Significant positive associations were found between men's physical abuse of children at the community level and women's risk of experiencing emotional and physical violence. Neighborhood poverty and male unemployment, number of children living at home, women's attitudinal acceptance of wife beating, and male-dominated financial decision-making were additional risk factors for sexual violence. Women's economic independence was a protective factor for emotional and physical violence, while relationship quality was protective for all forms of violence and multiple victimizations.
This paper examined the relationship between exposure to sexual and physical abuse (CSA and CPA) in childhood and later educational achievement outcomes in late adolescence and early adulthood in a birth cohort of over 1,000 children studied to age 25.
Retrospective data on CSA and CPA were gathered at ages 18 and 21 and used to form a best estimate of exposure to CSA and CPA. The relationship between CSA, CPA, and self-reported educational outcomes to 25 years was examined using logistic regression models that took into account social background, parental factors, and individual factors.
Increasing exposure to CSA and CPA was significantly associated with failing to achieve secondary school qualifications (CSA: B=.53, SE=.13, p<.0001; CPA: B=.62, SE=.12, p<.0001), gaining a Higher School Certificate (CSA: B=-.48, SE=.13, p<.001; CPA: B=-.78, SE=.14, p<.001), attending university (CSA: B=-.29, SE=.13, p<.05; CPA: B=-.45, SE=.13, p<.001), and gaining a university degree (CSA: B=-.54, SE=.18, p<.005; CPA: B=-.64, SE=.17, p<.001). Adjustment for confounding social, parental, and individual factors explained most of these associations. After control for confounding factors, omnibus tests of the associations between CSA and outcomes and CPA and outcomes failed to reach statistical significance (CSA: Wald chi(2) (4)=7.72, p=.10; CPA: Wald chi(2) (4)=8.26, p=.08).
The effects of exposure to CSA and CPA on later educational achievement outcomes are largely explained by the social, family, and individual context within which exposure to abuse takes place.
War at home—A review of the relationship between war trauma and family violence
- Catani
Catani, C. (2010). War at home-A review of the relationship between war trauma and family violence. Verhaltenstherapie, 20(1) 1-1.