Exposure to violence and psychosocial trauma among Sudanese survivors
| Date | 19 December 2024 |
| Pages | 57-75 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JACPR-07-2024-0926 |
| Published date | 19 December 2024 |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Criminology & forensic psychology,Aggression,conflict & peace,Sociology,Gender studies,Gender violence,Political sociology,policy & social change,Social conflicts,War/peace |
| Author | Shahla Eltayeb,Alia Badri |
Exposure to violence and psychosocial
trauma among Sudanese survivors
Shahla Eltayeb and Alia Badri
Abstract
Purpose –This paper aims to investigates the experiences of violence among Sudanese survivors and the
associated mental health outcomes, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anxiety disorders.
It highlights the variety, frequency and severity of political violence exposure and its impact on
psychological trauma.
Design/methodology/approach –A cross-sectional quantitativestudy used data from 324 Sudanese
youth exposed to violence. A self-rated 17-item questionnaire assessed violence exposure types and
frequency.The General Health Questionnaireand the Davidson Trauma Scale evaluatedmental health.
Findings –High levels of PTSD and poor general mental health were found in 60% of the youth. Exposure
included brutal beatings (47%), physical torture (17%) and sexual violence (2%), with 47% enduring hours
of torture.
Research limitations/implications –The cross-sectional design limits causal inferences, and self-
reporteddata may introduce biases. Futurestudies should use longitudinal designsand consider cultural
factorsto better understand the long-term effects of politicalviolence.
Practical implications –The study highlights the need for systematic trauma screening and targeted
psychosocial support programs for Sudanese youth, particularly for underrepresented young adult
males,to address significant trauma effectively.
Originality/value –This research provides novel insights into the mental health impact of political
violence on Sudanese youth, offering valuable evidence to inform policies and programs aimed at
supportingthis vulnerable population.
Keywords Violence, Trauma, Sudanese survivors, Mental health complaints
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Throughout human history, there have been riots, revolutions and protests; these events are
becoming more frequent worldwide (Pedersen, 2002). The relationship between political violence
and mental health is a fundamental theme in the complex story of Sudan, a country characterized
by violent conflict, instability and civil war, and it is essential to comprehend the diverse dif ficulties
that survivors experience. Understanding Sudan’s complex relationship requires an
understanding of the country’s violent history, which is characterized by societal unrest, civi l war
and authoritarian governance. The collective experience of past bloodshed, particularly the
Darfur and South Sudan conflicts, casts a long shadow, fueling a culture of fear and mistrust.
1.1 Sudan’s contemporary history of political violence
The uprising of April 2019 marked a watershed moment in Sudan’s contemporary h istory, with
thousands of civilians protesting and demanding political ref orm in the country. These rallies
have spread throughout the country, including to affluent areas of Khar toum, the capital.
The presence of harsh and autocratic leadership, continuous human rights violations and
significant levels of corruption haveexacerbated discontent and increased calls for political
Shahla Eltayeb is based at
the Department of Crime
Prevention, Naif Arab
University for Security
Sciences, Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia. Alia Badri is
based at School of
Psychology and Pre-School
Education, Ahfad University
for Women, Omdurman,
Sudan.
Received 27 July 2024
Revised 27 September 2024
9 November 2024
Accepted 9 November 2024
DOI 10.1108/JACPR-07-2024-0926 VOL. 17 NO. 1 2025, pp. 57-75, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1759-6599 jJOURNAL OF AGGRESSION, CONFLICT AND PEACE RESEARCH jPAGE 57
reform. Furthermore, poor living conditions and a perceived lack of effective government
response have fueled demandfor reform (Hassan and Kodouda, 2019).
During the peaceful prodemocracy sit-in in central Khartoum on June 3rd , there were
numerous attacks and violence directed at Sudanese protesters. Survivor narr atives describe
being subjected to significant human rights violations during large-scale attacks, such as
extrajudicial killings, torture, baton beatings, whip thrashing, imprisonment and detainment,
among many other forms of witnessing extreme forms of violence, abuses, supp ression and
torture of women and men. The number of injured, missing or mysteriously disap peared, in a
fugue state, or who died is estimated to be in the hundreds (Berridge, 2020).
Often used as a weapon against protestors, gender-based violence (GBV) is a recurrent
type of violence that is witnessed in wars and political turmoil. This encompasses the
frequency of maltreatment and sexual assault committed against numerous females.
Beyond the data collected in 2004 in the wake of the Darfur genocide, which recorded at
least 250 occurrences of rape among women, as reported by Amnesty International
(Amnesty International, 2004), there is a noticeable absence of statistics and qualitative as
well as quantitative data on rape cases in Sudan. Following the June 3rd attacks, there are
no official numbers of Sudanese rape and sexual abuse victims. Despite the unwavering
efforts of a national investigating panel, the perpetrators of these heinous acts have not yet
been apprehended or brought to justice (AmnestyInternational, 2021).
1.2 Political violence and mental health
Cummings et al. (2017a) indicated that violence manifests in unique ways across different
communities and countries, with no universally applicable understanding of its nature and
impact. Armed conflict is defined as a violent dispute over governance or territory, while
political violence is broader, encompassing conflicts where neither party is the state and
violence is often linked to identity-based causes such as political, ethnic or religious
affiliations. Even after peace agreements, political violence can persist, particularlyin cases
where group identities remain at the centerof the conflict. Advocates for a social-ecological
approach to understanding the mechanisms underlying individual adjustment in settings of
political violence, to inform preventive and intervention strategies.
Several studies (Huesmann et al.,2023;Dubow et al., 2009;Cummings et al., 2017b) have
looked into exposure to violence and its divesting effects in different settings and among
different vulnerable age groups. According to Patel (2020), torture affects the complete
individual –physically, emotionally and socially; posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an
inadequate depiction of the breadth and complexity of the repercussions of torture. Even
when PTSD is diagnosed, some torture survivors with exceptionally severe trauma-related
symptoms may fail to meet the diagnostic criteria. “Complex trauma” is one of the proposed
categories. In this study, “psychological trauma” is defined as emotionally overwhelming
situations that outweigh an individual’s psychological coping capacities, resulting in
psychological distress symptoms (Opaas et al., 2020). Aside from posttraumatic stress
symptoms, survivors of abuse and torture are more likely to experience anxiety, sadness
and adjustment issues. Symptoms should always be understood in light of the contextual
sociopolitical background, as no diagnostic classification can express the deep distrust of
people that many torture survivors have developed, much alone the annihilation of
everything that gave their livespurpose (Miller and Rasmussen, 2010).
In low-resource settings, exposure to political violence, profound torture and detention
showed to be associated to the development of a variety of mental health disorders
including anxiety depression PTSD (Karunakara et al., 2004;Tol et al.,2011;Steele, 2018).
For those who have survived political violence and torture in Sudan, many political and
economic obstacles make their mental health problems worse. These obstacles include
financial hardship, social isolation and unmet basic requirements. Survivors find it difficult to
PAGE 58 jJOURNAL OF AGGRESSION, CONFLICT AND PEACE RESEARCH jVOL. 17 NO. 1 2025
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