Two new academic researches on women victims of domestic abuse and PTSD

The Daily Star newspaper published a report about two recent research papers shedding light on different facets of domestic abuse in Lebanon and the complex interplay of factors that must be addressed to deal with the phenomenon beyond legislation.  The results of the first research paper carried out by Christelle Khadra, a doctoral student at the University of Montreal, and supervised by Antonine University faculty, showed that 97 percent of the 87 women participating in the research and who had suffered from physical abuse suffer from symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The results of the research also indicated that women who were in abusive relationships for over seven years showed fewer PTSD symptoms than those who were in a similar relationship for less than a year. The paper referred these results to the possibility that the formers developing better coping mechanisms over the longer years of abuse.
While, Khadra advises that health-care professionals should become more involved in identifying women at risk and referring them to counseling and shelters, the second paper revealed that doctors were often reluctant to involve themselves in issues of domestic violence due to cultural and religious beliefs that condone the practice and out of fear of losing patients and of personal safety. This second research paper, which is the outcome of interviews with 92 physicians, was published in the British Journal of General Practice and was undertaken by Jinan Usta, associate professor of clinical medicine at the American University of Beirut. The results of this paper also pointed out the fact that most physicians in Lebanon tend to blame victims of domestic violence for the abuse and to justify the practice of violence.
Source: The Daily Star 24 June 2014