GBV a major cause of women's Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, research

Professor Lukoye Awoli, Deputy Director, Brain and Mind Institute, Aga Khan University/photo: Handout

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has been identified to be more prevalent among women than men, with Gender Based Violence as the major contributor.

The preliminary results from the research study have shown that 61% of women report lifetime PTSD compared to 39% of the male population.

The research study conducted by the Aga Khan University’s Brain and Mind Institute (BMI) has revealed worrying numbers of PTSD among the adult population, revealing 55% of the adult population to have previously experienced PTSD at some point in their lives, while 21% showed symptoms of past-month PTSD suffering.

Speaking during the dissemination event at the Aga Khan University Hospital Auditorium, Professor Lukoye Awoli, Deputy Director, Brain and Mind Institute, Aga Khan University, flagged gender-based violence as the major cause of PTSD among women.

"Women are more likely to get post-traumatic stress disorder. For instance, when we are talking about sexual violence, the risks of trauma after sexual violence are very high. In this environment, women are still exposed to huge risks of sexual violence," he added.

A large proportion of Kenyans are exposed to trauma, and there are very many different types of traumas that people are exposed to, ranging from physical violence, sexual violence, death of loved ones, accidents, and so on and so forth. These are happening all around us.”

“A proportion of people exposed to those traumas develop post-traumatic stress disorder, and the reason why this happens, we are still studying, but some of that is associated with gender. After certain types of traumas,” he said

He reiterated that after physical assault, the risk is a little lower, but it is present. This is because women are exposed to a lot of physical assault in our setting, especially in domestic settings with intimate partner violence.

Dr. Mercy Karanja, the head division of mental health at the Ministry of Health, hailed the research as timely and one that would help in the formulation of policies geared towards the intervention and prevention of PTSD among the Kenyan populace.

“We are currently in the process of undertaking the first-ever national baseline mental health survey. When this research is out, we will be able to share more definitive figures, and maybe from the findings of this research, we shall formulate policies and spread them nationally.”

She highlighted the need for Kenya to do its own research and prescribe solutions that are unique to the problems identified in Kenya, which will be effective in combating mental health issues in the country.