Understanding political trauma and gender based violence perpetration among Palestinian females: An exploratory qualitative study

This exploratory qualitative study explored the potential role of political trauma on genderbased violence, and how the exposure to gender-based violence (GBV) may affect mental health among Palestinian females from the perspective of females, males, and mental health care providers in the Palestinian context. The sample of our study consisted of 38 participants (14 adult females, 13 adult males, and 11 mental health care providers) selected using snowball sampling techniques from the West Bank and East Jerusalem in Palestine. A semistructured interviews were conducted with the Participants, and a thematic content analysis was applied to the transcribed interviews. The thematic content analysis revealed several main themes and sub-themes related to GBV, political trauma and mental health among Palestinian females. .The participants from the three groups reported several psychological, social, and environmental factors related to political trauma resulting from the Israeli occupation that increased females’ risk of experiencing GBV. Our findings shed light on different mental health outcomes among Palestinian females as being exposed to GBV ,risk and protective factors against GBV. Thus, we recommend taking into consideration the psychological, social, and environmental factors that are related to the political trauma that may lead to GBV perpetration when assessing mental health, and developing several interventions targeting GBV victims in contexts of political oppression and war.