ABSTRACT
The World Health Assembly in its 1996 resolution WHA 49.25 (WHA, 1996) declared violence a leading public health problem. While in parts of the world today there is signifi cant progress in lifestyle, social status and the rights of women, this progress is uneven. According to the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr Margaret Chan:
… not everyone can benefi t from this progress and many women and girls are still unable to reach their full potential because of persistent health, social and gender inequalities and health systems inadequacies. (WHO, 2009)
Women’s health is becoming an urgent priority because of persisting armed confl icts all over the world. In the foreword to the study on Women, Peace and Security, the then UN Secretary-General, Kofi A. Annan, pointed out one critical, tragic feature, apart from poverty, of all confl icts taking place:
[T]he struggle for scarce resources and violations of human rights and its disproportionate impact of suff ering of women and girls. Besides bombings, famines, epidemics, mass executions, torture, arbitrary imprisonments, forced migration, ethnic cleansing, threats and intimidation, women and girls also suff er from sexual and gender based violence and diff erent kind of exploitation. (UN, 2002)
Violence against women occurs globally and in all parts of society. In many countries, it is the norm; even worse, it is a part of widely tolerated and supported cultural practices. We see violence everywhere, not only in armed confl icts, where it is used as a weapon, but also during peacetime. Daily, there are news reports about emergencies, natural disasters, terrorist attacks and mass violence. The rise in mental and psychosocial problems is therefore not surprising. Unfortunately, scientifi c evidence regarding mental health and psychosocial support during such events remains scanty (Inter-Agency Standing Committee, 2007).
