War, women and health

Abstract

Wars increasingly target civilian populations and cause severe health problems in those targeted. It also creates a militarization and masculinization of society and exacerbates discrimination against women, for example by intensifying women's exclusion from the public sphere and rendering access to health services more difficult. Sexual violence is a clear example hereof and may take many forms, for example as rape, sexual mutilation, forced abortion, or forced prostitution. The vulnerability of women is related to their social situation as single providers, to their dwelling in refugee camps etc., and their personal security in unsafe settings. All may contribute to an increased risk of abuse with deleterious consequences for their physical and psychological state of health. Physically, this includes complaints of the musculo-skeletal system, reproductive organs as well as chronic pain conditions. The prevailing psychological manifestations include anxiety, depression, cognitive dysfunction, insomnia and lack of energy. The need for the implementation of international human rights laws is pertinent and provision for protection of the health of women should be guaranteed, including the urgent need for adequate and culturally sensitive care for such women.

Psychiatric Morbidity among Victims of Violent Ethno-Religious Conflicts in Barkin Ladi, North Central Nigeria, Five Years After: Prevalence and Sociodemographic Correlates

“…Similar studies in the past have also revealed an increase prevalence of depression among victims of violent conflicts [9,10,12,13]. The factors that could be responsible here would include loss of loved ones, sources of livelihood and properties putting the victims in a state of helplessness and hopelessness [18]. About one tenth of our subjects had dysthymia.…”

“…This figure is about 3 times the 3.7% prevalence of dysthymia in the general population [19]. Persisting low level of depressive symptoms could be adduced to a state of pervasive socio-economic decline, increased household strain faced by victims, loss of a family member or property that usually accompanies violent conflicts [18]. The report of the study conducted by Agbir and colleagues [12] also yielded a similar result.…”

“…Many women may in war situations be faced with the main responsibility of becoming household heads especially when the destiny of their husbands is unknown. The woman's capacity to cope may become overloaded if the household is facing disaster [18]. An alternate explanation for this could be due to the tendency of women to express emotional symptoms compared to their male counterpart who conceal their symptoms to avoid being tagged a weakling and thus resort to the use of alcohol and other substances to mask their symptoms [33].…”

Post-traumatic stress disorder burden among female Syrian war refugees is associated with dysmenorrhea severity but not with the analgesics

“…Many aspects of war disproportionately affect women and their health. Social upheaval and societal changes in the wake of war may subordinate women and deprioritize their health, as well as render them more likely to experience violent acts such as rape and sexual assault [18]. Sociocultural norms of collectivist societies may also affect women's coping responses in the wake of traumatic events, leading to further deleterious effects on their health and wellbeing [19].…”

Salud sexual y reproductiva de mujeres afrocolombianas víctimas del conflicto armado en Bojayá, Chocó, Colombia. Estudio de métodos mixtos, 2019

“…En cuanto a la salud sexual, ha sido reportado que las disfunciones sexuales suelen encontrarse en comorbilidad con alteraciones de la salud mental (SM), en población general 13 , y aún más en mujeres expuestas a confrontaciones armadas 11 , 14 o a violencia sexual en el marco del conflicto armado 15 , 16 . Existen publicaciones internacionales relativas a mujeres militares expuestas a eventos violentos de alta intensidad en guerras, quienes presentaron disfunciones sexuales entre un 12,7 y un 62,3 % 11 , 14 , que fueron significativamente más frecuentes entre quienes tenían comorbilidad con un trastorno por estrés postraumático respecto a quienes no habían recibido tal diagnóstico (p = 0,022) 14 .…”