International Society for Health and Human Rights




		Marina Ajdukovic University of Zagreb, School of Social Work Croatia Violence against women: mental health and human rights issues in the aftermath of war Violencia contra la mujer: un asunto de salud mental y derechos humanos en la posguerra Since a violent society produces violent families, the issue of violence against women in the post-war period is an important social problem. Although there are few empirical data in Croatia that corroborate the connection between war and increased domestic violence, one can expect increased risk for family violence due to: changes of societal values, a high proportion of war veterans suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder, a poor economic situation, increase in unemployment during the post-war period, generally higher tolerance for violence, and, to increased proliferation of fire arms in the population. Different cultural myths and beliefs play a contra-productive role in changing public, governmental and even professional responses to women abuse. Starting from this optic, the Society for Psychological Assistance's (SPA) aim was to develop an interdisciplinary training program for dealing with domestic violence using a community-oriented approach that aimed at: Raising the awareness and sensitivity for violence against women among social workers, primary health care providers, and other significant helpers in a community. Increasing their knowledge, recognition abilities and basic skills when dealing with domestic violence survivors. Clarifying the referral procedures and strengthening the cooperation with other human services at the community level. The three-day training program was completed by groups of beneficiaries in Croatia (N=116) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (N= 111) in collaboration with Admira, the Dutch NGO. The evaluation data indicated that the training had immediate impact on increasing the feeling of competence and raising a more positive attitude toward women survivors of domestic violence. Domestic violence proved to be an appropriate and important subject for community and family centered educational programs in concert with other disciplines such as social work, public health, primary health care, public policy, law, psychiatry, psychology, sociology, even anthropology and theology. Knowledge from all relevant fields, including the study of cultural myths and beliefs, played a role in identifying the sources of family violence and its impact on the quality of life of victims, as well as an understanding of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and of the development of the posttraumatic stress disorder among those who witness violence. Having participants from different organizational and professional environments facilitated the effective use of the mental health and human rights training paradigm. Participants demonstrated that they could serve as valuable resources to each other and facilitate further collaboration in the community.