Help-Seeking, Trust and Intimate Partner Violence: Social Connections Amongst Displaced and Non-Displaced Yezidi Women and Men in the Kurdistan Region of Northern Iraq

September 11, 2020

• Alison Strang, Oonagh O’Brien, Maggie Sandilands and Rebecca Horn

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Summary

Conflict and displacement impact the social fabric of communities through the disruption of social connections and the erosion of trust. Effective humanitarian assistance requires understanding the social capital that shapes patterns of help-seeking in these circumstances – especially with stigmatised issues such as violence against women (VAW) and intimate partner violence (IPV).

Mapping social connections and trust provides valuable insight into the social capital available to support help-seeking in populations of humanitarian concern. For these Yezidi populations, family, religious and community resources were the most widely utilised and trusted. Trust was mostly reserved for family and their main religious leader regarding IPV against women. Lack of trust appeared to be a major barrier to stronger engagement with available NGO provision, particularly amongst displaced women. The role of faith and religious resources for this population is clearly significant, and warrants an explicitly faith-sensitive approach to humanitarian assistance.

Citation

Strang, Alison et al. “Help-Seeking, Trust and Intimate Partner Violence: Social Connections Amongst Displaced and Non-Displaced Yezidi Women and Men in the Kurdistan Region of Northern Iraq.” Conflict and Health 14, no. 61. 2020.