Mental health consequences in men exposed to sexual abuse during the war in Croatia and Bosnia

Authors:
LONCAR Mladen, HENIGSBERG Neven, HRABAC Pero
Journal article citation:
Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 25(2), February 2010, pp.191-203.
Publisher:
Sage

There are many studies exploring different categories of rape and the impacts they have on the individuals and society. These studies usually emphasise men as the perpetrators, and women as the victims. This research project concentrates on the sexual abuse of men during the war in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and presents detailed information from 60 victims of such crimes. Aiming to define key attributes of sexual abuse of men in war as well as consequences it had on the victims, this study uses a method of structured interview, where the statement of each victim was recorded. Victims were generally exposed to physical torture of their genitals, psycho-sexual torture and physical abuse, and reported that the most common symptoms of traumatic reactions were: sleep disturbances; concentration difficulties; night-mares and flashbacks; feelings of hopelessness; and different physical stress symptoms such as constant headaches, profuse sweating, and tachycardia. In addition to rape and sexual abuse, most of the victims were heavily beaten. The authors conclude that the number of sexually abused men during the war must have been much higher than reported, but regrettably no new study was authorised by the Croatian Ministry of Health.

Subject terms:
men, mental health problems, physical abuse, rape, sexual abuse, survivors, torture, violence, war;
Content type:
research
Location(s):
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia
Link:
Journal home page
ISSN online:
1552-6518
ISSN print:
0886-2605

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