Sexual and domestic violence during and after war
About Admira Foundation | Admira publications
Rape, persecution and abuse are serious violations of human integrity. In times of war or social-political disintegration, sexual violence increases dramatically. The effect on victims, families and communities can be profound and lasting.
In 1994 Admira was founded with the primary aim to train (mental) health professionals, social workers and volunteer care workers in the former Yugoslavia to help and assist victims of war and sexual violence. It was initiated as a reaction on the news about the systematic rape of women and girls in war-stricken Yugoslavia.
Admira started out as a training and consultancy programme for the promotion of psycho-social care for victims of war and sexual violence. In the aftermath of war, when care workers in the former Yugoslavia reported an increase of domestic violence, this topic was included in our training programme both with respect to care for victims and to working with perpetrators.
The objectives of Admira have developed over the years: firstly, to offer support to women’s organizations that are active in the field of assisting victims of war and domestic violence from a gender perspective; secondly, to assist other NGOs and mainstream governmental organizations in the same field to recognize the value of gender-based work, and adopt it as their regular practice. And finally, to support cooperation and networking between various governmental bodies and non-governmental organizations in order to make the work in the field of care for victims of war and domestic violence better integrated and more effective.
Initially Admira worked mainly with non governmental women’s organizations. Later, other NGOs and organizations from the regular health services were included. More recently organizations that (can) play an important part in
creating 'a chain of safety', such as police and justice were also included.
Admira sought to strengthen and support the efforts of local care workers and organizations to care for those individuals and families that suffer from the consequences of war and sexual and domestic violence.
In order to do so Admira:
- advanced know-how and skills of care workers, aimed at the amelioration of the disintegrative effects of war trauma, sexual and domestic violence;
- promoted care workers’ interest in trauma through sexual and domestic violence. As shame, fear, powerless rage and sometimes even feelings of guilt, prevent many women and girls to talk about their overwhelming experiences, it is important for care workers to recognize complaints and symptoms that may be indications for sexual abuse and/or domestic violence;
- promoted good care for care workers: many care workers - professional and volunteer - in situations of war and conflict have experienced traumatic events themselves. They have to deal with their clients’ as well as their own experiences. Self care, prevention of burn-out and secondary traumatization are therefore areas of special interest in Admira’s trainings;
- supported autonomous women’s organizations that promote continuous political, educational and institutional interest in the prevention of sexual and domestic violence and care for its victims. Admira operated on the assumption that the involvement of local health services in assisting victims of sexual and
domestic violence can be stimulated through an active and powerful women's movement. For these reasons, Admira supported women's organizations through training and advice in the area of organizational development.
To advance theoretical and practical know-how with regard to the immediate and long-term consequences of sexual violence was an important objective of Admira. However, we did not promote an isolated focus on sexual traumatization.
In situations of war or conflict, rape and sexual violence against women and girls are usually preceded and accompanied by other shocking events. Many people endure extreme existential fear and basic insecurities. Refugees and displaced persons suffer various hardships, such as loss of loved ones, homes, jobs, income and status; families are torn apart, and many witness or fall victim to extreme violence and cruelty. This cumulative traumatization may induce a complex need for help and care. Treatment and care which concentrates solely on sexual violence is therefore inadequate. As a consequence we treat the subject of war rape and sexual violence in the context of the immediate and long-term effects of war trauma and uprooting in general.
In Admira three Dutch organizations joined forces:
- Movisie (formerly: TransAct), national centre of expertise on gender issues in health care and the prevention of sexual and domestic violence;
- Pharos, national knowledge centre on refugees and (health) care;
- Cogis, Dutch expert centre on the (psycho)social effects of war, persecution, aggression and violence (formerly: ICODO, national centre of expertise on services to victims of war and organized violence, specialising in the (long-term) effects of war and prosecution).
A pool of trainers, from various professional and personal backgrounds provided training programmes in the countries of the former Yugoslavia. All trainers are experts in their field and have a long history of working with survivors of gender
based and/or organized violence. Some are pioneers and activists in the women’s movement, others in the movement for human rights; there are psychologists, psychotherapists, gynaecologists, social workers, general practitioners,
psychiatrists, teachers and organizational advisors. Training programmes usually consisted of a series of three day trainings over a number of years. With most organizations Admira has developed a long term relationship.
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Work for Care: Sexual and domestic violence during and after war; A trainers' manual
(Manual may be downloaded in pdf-format)
» Cover
» Content and introduction
» Module 1: War, trauma and recovery
» Module 2: Individual counselling of sexually abused women
» Module 3: Empowering and healing battered women
» Module 4: Crisis intervention and group work with survivors
» Module 5: Gender issues and gender informed mental health care
» Module 6: Gender and violence: working with perpetrators
» Module 7: Shelters for women survivors of war and (sexual) violence
» Module 8: Leading self-help (support) groups
» Module 9: Community based psychosocial support projects for refugees and displaced persons
» Module 10: Empowerment and building a supportive environment
» Module 11: Communication skills
» Module 12: Organizational issues for (women) NGO's
» Module 13: Prevention of professional burn-out with care workers: self-care and organizational care
» Module 14: The body remembers: dealing with feelings
» Module 15: Programme evaluation
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Speaking of WarWar Rape and Domestic Violence in the Former Yugoslavia. Trainers about their Work for Care
In Speaking of War experiences of trainers that were sent out by Admira to support care workers in the countries of the Former Yugoslavia are brought together. Since 1994 Admira has offered trainings and organi-sational advice to care organizations in these regions. It all started as a programme to support the care for women victims of war violence, but after the war the emphasis shifted to the issue of family violence.
Through interviews and personal contributions the trainers share their experiences that vary widely and cover a broad field and often take place on the edge of personal perception and professional involvement. Here, we touch the subjects of offering comfort and support, restoring bonds, turning powerlessness into a constructive force, of the fear and shame of care workers to discuss rape.
On the other hand there are the problems that the care workers come to face because of their daily encounters with the violence experiences of their clients, the care for the care workers, the inevitable next step in this work which is to work with perpetrators and with veterans, the painful confrontation with a participant whose immediate family was murdered in Srebrenica.
The experiences of the trainers are intense and show that this type of training involves more than just giving, it involves a great deal of receiving: new insights and questions, shared experiences. Therefore, this collection offers a scope of useful leads and experiences for the training of care workers in other (post) war regions. |