Syndemic factors impacting Sexual Violence against Women in Post-disaster Settings

Background: Sexual violence and disasters, interconnected public health issues that impact our global society comprise unexpected, inescapable life-threatening situations to which responses include helplessness, hopelessness, physical injury, and mental disorders.  Increasingly, disasters are followed by increased physical and sexual violence against women (SVAW) at the hands of intimate partners and, increasingly, strangers. Lacking is knowledge of factors that interact syndemically to increase SVAW in post-disaster settings. Such knowledge could contribute to development of primary interventions that mitigate the likelihood of SVAW and its accompanying adverse health effects.   

Method:  We reviewed literature on sexual violence post-disasters around the world, restricting our search to English language peer-reviewed publications, and publications of the World Health Organization, between 2000 and 2014. ATLAS.ti® supported a thematic analysis of the articles’ content, focusing on factors that interact to increase SVAW.  

Results: Our search yielded 40 articles, (4 countries- Haiti, Chile, India, Japan), which emphasize sexual violence post-disasters. Syndemically occurring risk factors for SVAW included 1) patriarchal society structures where men make decisions about location, supervision, and security of shelters;  2) heightened emphasis on crisis intervention and less on general public safety; lack of safety and privacy in shelters; 3) few leadership roles for women;

Conclusion: SVAW post- disasters seems more common among women who live in patriarchal, disaster-prone settings. Sexual violence prevention-intervention and training programs in such contexts should empower women to take part in making decisions and to take on leadership roles that help determine acceptable/ optimal safety conditions in shelters.