Africa: Insult to Injury - Women Refugees And the Stigma of Rape
Toni Bacala
7 February 2011
analysis
The road to safety does not always guarantee deliverance, especially not for many women refugees fleeing conflict in the Horn of Africa.Increasing cases of sexual abuse against women refugees en route to sanctuary in Egypt and Israel have raised concerns about providing victims with proper mental health care to survive not only the psychological remnants of rape, but also the resultant stigma.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported a total of 39,461 registered refugees and asylum seekers in Egypt as of November 2010, roughly 44 percent of whom were women.
Last December, the Physicians for Human Rights - Israel (PHR-Israel) made an urgent appeal for medical support after receiving an increasing number of women refugees in need of gynecological and reproductive help. Through its open clinic in Tel Aviv, PHR-Israel obtained testimonies of sexual assault from mostly uninsured African refugees during their detention in Sinai.
Eliciting testimony was difficult, as many women suffered extreme shame that kept them from confronting questions on sexual violence. Those women who braved a response shared experiences of rape, often at knife or gunpoint, and torture by Bedouins who smuggle asylum-seekers, mostly from Sudan and Eritrea, who cross Sinai to Israel.
Victims endured serious injury, contracted STDs, and experienced mental anguish, including major depression and suicidal ideations. Raped victims who got pregnant sought out abortions at PHR-Israel's Open Clinic, which performed 171 abortions from January to mid-December 2010.
Many of these women come from communities with a discriminatory culture on rape; some even blame victims for the assault. As a result, victims suffer compounded psychological traumas, demanding appropriate mental care.
Victims of rape are threatened by ostracism from their families and community, as discussed in Nowhere to Turn, a report on sexually and physically assaulted Darfuri refugee women by the Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI).
According to the report, these sexually assaulted women go home to find themselves disowned by their husbands, rejected by their families, and in some documented cases, physically punished by the community.
"If they face stigma as a result of sexual violence, this can sometimes be as traumatic as the attack itself," explained Jocelyn Kelly, Research Coordinator for HHI's Women in War program.
As most cases of gender-based violence (GBV) stem from the subordination and discrimination of women prevalent in many societies, integrating cultural dimensions in developing largely Western-based mental health programs is critical.
Dr. Elzbieta Gozdziak, Research Director of the Institute for the Study of International Migration at Georgetown University highlights the importance of collaborating with local, traditional and indigenous healing systems.
The Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) also recommends appropriating cultural practices in the healing process. While the efficiency of traditional approaches may not always be clinically proven, dialogues with indigenous healers can facilitate understanding of the relational and psychological context of sexual violence.
Health care providers are also encouraged to involve the wider community, particularly the victim's family, in reconstructing support systems fragmented by cultural partiality on rape.
"Research by HHI has highlighted the very important role a woman's family members and communities play in helping (or hindering) her recovery from rape," Kelly told MediaGlobal.
The absence of family structures for psychological and emotional support severely complicates the healing process. Thus, in many cases, victims choose not to disclose their experience of rape, thereby depriving themselves of any help.
Relevant Links
Gozdziak pointed out that the survivors of sexual violence are themselves valuable information resources. She posed, "What did they find helpful? What kind of indigenous strategies have non-Western women been using to deal with these issues?" Learning from their experience of coping also ensures the sustainability of interventions.
Although this multidimensional integration seems complex, it is not impossible. Through the collaboration of health care providers, survivors, and communities, these women may finally be released from the psychological trap of violence and set on the road to recovery.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201102080635.html
No comments:
Post a Comment