Case reports of organized and political violence have been
focused on individual experiences. Often, these are high profile
cases. In addition, case reports do not consider the health impact
of violence (including psychological torture) on family members or
the long-term economic and social consequences in the
community.
Epidemiological tools offer an opportunity to assess
systematically all forms of organized and political violence at the
population level and estimate their short and long-term effects on
physical, psychological and social well-being of the individual,
family and the community.
This is a multi-site case study of conflict epidemiology
commissioned by RCT for three countries and it has been implemented
in Bangladesh and Kosovo in 2008. The aims are 1) to estimate the
local endemicity and study the pattern of organized and political
violence, 2) to identify the risks and protective factors and 3) to
analyze their association with the general population health
outcomes and family financial burden.
I am also interested in mapping the spatial variation using
geographic information system, which enables us to identify areas
with different levels of exposure to all forms of organized and
political violence and prioritize the health and legal
intervention. The ultimate goal of this study is 1) to develop a
simple tool to assess the deterioration of
physical fitness, functional capacity and social relationships
of oppressed population, 2) to create and validate a generic rapid
assessment protocol for studying conflict epidemiology.
The main reason for defining the burden of organized and
political violence in the conflict-affected area is to take an
action on local elimination and prevention. The community
intervention cannot be achieved without empowering the oppressed
population. It is also of my interest to understand the community
attitude towards collective exposure to violence, social
rehabilitation and violence prevention.