THEY are the overlooked casualties of Liberia鈥檚 civil war: men and boys who not only had to take part, but were also sexually abused by commanders, comrades in arms or opposing soldiers.
When a truce was finally agreed in 2003, . But in a country where many bear the mental scars of conflict, former combatants who were sexually abused, including many male fighters, seem to be in particularly bad shape.
Researchers led by Lynn Lawry of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland, questioned 367 men and 182 women who had served with armed forces in Liberia 鈥� including as soldiers, scouts or labourers. More than 40 per cent of female combatants said they had suffered sexual violence, with 75 per cent of these reporting symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
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Perhaps more surprisingly, 33 per cent of male combatants said they had been similarly abused. Of those, 80 per cent reported symptoms of PTSD, compared with 46 per cent of male combatants who were not abused (Journal of the American Medical Association, vol 300, p 676). 鈥淢ental health policies need to address males as victims of sexual violence,鈥� Lawry suggests.
Lawry used a broad definition of sexual violence that included being forced to strip 鈥� so she does not know what proportion experienced more serious assaults. Some victims may also have kept quiet, given social taboos.
鈥淪exual violence against males is probably underdocumented in most conflicts,鈥� says Jeannie Annan of New York University, who co-directs the in Uganda.
