Tens of thousands of people have fled the ongoing conflict in Tigray, crossing Ethiopia’s border into Sudan and arriving at refugee camps. Abu Obeida El Siddig Mohamed, chief field officer for the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund in Kassala, eastern Sudan, said the Tigrayan refugees he’s screened — many women and children — are “exhausted,” “traumatized” and “in dire need of assistance.”
“I am an activist and we have some activists on the ground who try to feed us with some information from time to time,” Gidey told ABC News. “But the the one thing that we’re hearing predominantly is the cities that are controlled by forces loyal to Abiy Ahmed are going through horrific, horrific experiences. Mothers are being raped, properties and houses are being looted. The young generation, particularly those who are believed to have the capacity to mobilize the youths, are being shot at.”
In August 2014, the Yazidi community of Sinjar, in the Nineveh Governorate of Northern Iraq, was brutally targeted by the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) for annihilation through murder, torture, and the systematic and premeditated use of rape and sexual slavery of Yazidi women. In 2016, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights concluded that ISIS was committing genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes against Yazidis. Methods: Using current international literature, which includes reviews, qualitative interviews of survivors, and reports from medical and humanitarian actors, this paper explores the short and potentially long-term physical and mental health consequences of the extreme physical and sexual violence and atrocities perpetrated against Yazidi women. Results: Yazidi women survivors of kidnapping, sex slavery, and rape experienced significant levels of physical ailments, chronic pain, and mental health conditions. All women reported feelings of guilt, stress, insomnia, and severe flashbacks. The incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) ranged from 42% to 90%. Sixty-seven percent suffered from a somatoform disorder, 53% had depression, 39% experienced anxiety, and 28% suffered from dissociation. Conclusions: Sexual violence against women is a common tool systematically employed during wars and genocide. In recent ISIS attacks, intentional perpetration of mass rapes of women and execution of men was a strategy to destroy an entire population. PTSD and depression are common after traumatic stress. For disaster responders and humanitarian workers, training and education to understand, try to prevent, and plan for interventions when gender-based violence and sexual exploitation occurs must become a mandatory part of emergency preparedness.
Throughout history, rape has been used as a weapon of war and genocide in conflict zones. In the Rwandan genocide against the Tutsi population, systematic sexual molestation, mutilation and rape of Tutsi women and girls were used as a tool to terrorize and annihilate the ethnic Tutsis. The aim of this study is twofold: to investigate (1) the trauma experienced by women who were raped and (2) the trauma of children born as a result of rape during the 1994 Rwandan genocide against the Tutsis and its aftermath. A questionnaire was completed by 341 members of the Rwandan diaspora, over 20 years of age (166 males, 175 females), who are living in Finland and Belgium. Of the women, 18 (10.3%) had been exposed to rape, and 9 individuals (2.6%) were born as a result of rape. The findings indicate that the women who had been raped experienced a much more severe trauma than the children who were born as a result of rape.
The study investigated the trauma inflicted by the Rwandan genocide and its aftermath among Rwandans who nowadays reside in the Diaspora in Finland, their ways of coping with their trauma, and whether they thought reconciliation possible. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected through interviews of 40 Rwandans, 20 males (mean age 37.6 years, SD 16.4 years) and 20 females (mean age 47.6 years, SD 14.9 years), selected representatively from 14 different locations of Finland. It was found that 57.5% of the respondents had lost one or more family member during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. In this sample, 72.5% reported being traumatized, and of these, 37.5% extremely traumatized. Fifty percent reported having sleeping problems often, and of these, 22.5% very often. Seventy-five percent reported having bad dreams at least sometimes, 30% of these often, and 20% very often. Thirty percent of women and 5% of men reported having been raped. Of these, 15% of the women became pregnant due to the rape, and 10% were contaminated with HIV/AIDS. Ten percent of the respondents were born as a result of rape. Although 50% reported living peacefully with other Rwandans, 35% considered reconciliation difficult or extremely difficult. In conclusion, the Rwandan Diaspora living in Finland were severely traumatized by the genocide, and still, 22 years later, reconciliation appears difficult.
