RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Violence against children and youth poses public health risks regarding mental health symptoms and substance use. Less studied is the relationship between violence and mental health/substance abuse in the Latin American context. This study explored sex-stratified relationships between violence and mental health/substance use among Colombian youth. METHODS: We analyzed the 2018 Colombian Violence Against Children and Youth Survey, which collected cross-sectional data from Colombian youth (13-24 years) (n = 2705). Exposure variables were (i) binary sexual, emotional, and physical victimization and (ii) poly-victimization. The outcomes were binary suicidal thoughts, self-harm, past-month psychological distress, binge drinking, smoking, and drug use. Sex-stratified, logistic regressions were adjusted for age, primary school, parental presence, relationship status, and witnessing community violence. RESULTS: For females, (i) emotional violence (compared to being unexposed) was associated with greater odds of suicidal thoughts, self-harm, and psychological distress and (ii) sexual violence was associated with suicidal thoughts and self-harm. For males, (i) emotional violence (compared to being unexposed) was associated with greater odds of suicidal thoughts and psychological distress, but not self-harm and (ii) sexual violence exposure was associated with suicidal thoughts and self-harm. Physical violence was generally not associated with internalized mental health outcomes for females/males, when emotional and sexual violence were held constant. Poly-victimization was consistently and positively associated with internalized mental health symptoms among females, and to a lesser degree for males. Substance use outcomes for males or females were not associated with violence. CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight the internalized mental health burden of emotional and sexual violence.
Assuntos
Vítimas de Crime , Transtornos Relacionados ao Uso de Substâncias , Masculino , Feminino , Criança , Humanos , Adolescente , Estudos Transversais , Colômbia/epidemiologia , Violência/psicologia , Vítimas de Crime/psicologia , Transtornos Relacionados ao Uso de Substâncias/epidemiologia , Transtornos Relacionados ao Uso de Substâncias/psicologia , Avaliação de Resultados em Cuidados de SaúdeRESUMO
BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic produced alarming rates of disease and mortality globally, yet few nations were as severely impacted as Brazil. The pandemic also exposed and exacerbated persistent forms of structural violence across Brazil, which complicated gender-based violence (GBV) prevention and response efforts. While structural violence is not new, the systemic pressure and uncertainty introduced by COVID-19 intensified the detrimental impact of structural violence on the lives of Brazilians impacted by GBV. This work qualitatively investigated how the COVID-19 pandemic amplified structural violence and GBV in Brazil. METHODS: We analyzed key informant interviews (KII) conducted with 12 service providers working in sectors related GBV prevention and response in Roraima, Boa Vista, and Rio de Janeiro. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and translated from Portuguese or Spanish into English, before applying deductive and inductive coding approaches through a collaborative data reduction process. The theoretical lens of structural violence outlined by Farmer and Rylko-Bauer guided the thematic development. RESULTS: Analyses identified three themes. First, structural violence manifests as policies of inaction and erasure, which reduce the opportunity for upward social mobility among GBV survivors including Black women, trans persons, and people who live in the favelas. Policies of inaction and erasure fail to acknowledge/adequately respond to the significant health and safety needs of these communities. Second, structural violence is a fundamental cause of violence against women and children. Finally, service providers described community driven responses that address the dire survival needs (i.e., food insecurity) imposed by COVID-19, within a context of structural violence. These community driven responses were innovative, agile, and based on dire needs expressed to, and observed by, the service providers interviewed. CONCLUSION: This analysis highlights how the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing forms of structural violence prevalent throughout Brazil. Findings stress the urgency with which the Brazilian government and international organization must act to support community driven programs that strive to address the most basic human needs.
Assuntos
COVID-19 , Violência de Gênero , Criança , Feminino , Humanos , Brasil/epidemiologia , Pandemias , COVID-19/epidemiologia , ViolênciaRESUMO
A growing body of literature has documented an increased risk of gender-based violence (GBV) within the context of COVID-19 and service providers' reduced capacity to address this vulnerability. Less examined are the system-level impacts of the pandemic on the GBV sector in low- and middle-income countries. Drawing on the perspectives of 18 service providers working across various GBV-related sectors in Guatemala, we explored how the Guatemalan GBV prevention and response system operated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings highlight that the pandemic reinforced survivors' existing adversities (inadequate transportation access, food insecurity, digital divides), which subsequently reduced access to reporting, justice, and support. Consequently, the GBV prevention and response system had to absorb the responsibility of securing survivors' essential social determinants of health, further limiting already inflexible budgets. The pandemic also imposed new challenges, such as service gridlocks, that negatively affected survivors' system navigation and impaired service providers' abilities to efficiently receive reports and mobilize harm reduction and prevention programming. The findings underscore the systemic challenges faced by GBV service providers and the need to incorporate gender mainstreaming across public service sectors-namely, transportation and information/communication-to improve lifesaving GBV service delivery for Guatemalan survivors, particularly survivors in rural/remote regions.
Assuntos
COVID-19 , Violência de Gênero , COVID-19/epidemiologia , Violência de Gênero/prevenção & controle , Humanos , Pandemias/prevenção & controle , População Rural , SobreviventesRESUMO
Sexual abuse and exploitation (SEA) perpetrated by UN peacekeepers while on mission is a violation of human rights and undermines the goal of upholding human rights in countries that host peacekeeping missions. In addition to survivors, children fathered by peacekeepers are also victims of SEA that need protection. Stigma poses negative life course consequences for SEA survivors and their peacekeeper-fathered children. However, there is a considerable lack of empirical research concerning the stigma experiences of SEA survivors and their children in post-colonial contexts. The present study addresses this knowledge gap by drawing on The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti as a case study to examine the lived experiences of stigma among SEA survivors and their resultant children. Using 18 qualitative semi-structured interviews conducted in 2017 with Haitian women raising peacekeeper-fathered children, we organized qualitative codes according to Link and Phelan's conceptual model of stigma. The stigmatization process was explored through the themes of labeling, stereotyping, separation, and status loss and discrimination, as described by Link and Phelan. In addition, we nuanced the lived experiences of stigma by discussing the buffering roles of familial acceptance, skin phenotype, and the Haitian context. The findings have implications for the UN. We advocate that stigma be recognized and acted upon as a fundamental protection concern for SEA survivors and their children. Accordingly, the UN has an obligation to provide stigma-related supports for victims and complainants as well as to facilitate long-term child support for the children left behind by peacekeepers.
Assuntos
Militares , Criança , Feminino , Humanos , Haiti , Mães , Estigma Social , EstereotipagemRESUMO
The UN maintains a zero-tolerance policy on sexual interactions between peacekeepers and beneficiaries of assistance. Our research describes the lived experience of engaging sexually with UN peacekeepers during Mission des Nations Unies pour la Stabilisation en Haiti (MINUSTAH) from the perspectives of Haitian women/girls. Eighteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with Haitian women raising children fathered by MINUSTAH peacekeepers. Transcripts were analyzed according to empirical phenomenology.Adverse socio-economic conditions were key contextual factors. Three themes related to the nature of the sexual interactions emerged: sexual violence, transactional sex, and long-term transactional relationships imbedded in perceptions of love. Most sexual interactions were transactional and nuanced since the peacekeeper assumed the role of romantic and material provider. Sexual consent was conceptualised as the ability to weigh the benefits and consequences of engaging sexually with peacekeepers. Sexual violence was identified among minors and in instances of sexual abuse.This study provides empirical evidence to support a nuanced understanding of sexual relationships between women/girls and peacekeepers. In addition to holding peacekeepers accountable, a harm-reduction approach that aims to raise awareness for peacekeeping codes of conduct and provide comprehensive reproductive and sexual education should be considered.