Impacts of GBV
Gender-based violence (GBV) can cause significant trauma and distress as well as having a range of physical, emotional, mental health and social impacts. Every individual is unique, but there are a range of common impacts.
In the shorter term, young people are likely to be dealing with the immediate impacts of their experiences such as ongoing abuse or harassment from the perpetrator; feelings of shock, anger or fear as they try to make sense of what has happened; any physical and/or sexual health impacts; involvement in any police investigation or child protection measures; and potential loss of home due to domestic abuse. There may also be disruption to relationships – whether within peer groups, family or community – with the potential for the survivor to face blame or shame if they are seen to be in some way responsible for being abused, or for exposing the family/community by reporting it. These circumstances are likely to have a substantial impact on the young person’s engagement with school, both practically and emotionally.
In the longer term, there may be a range of impacts to mental health, relationships and educational engagement, such as:
Trauma and Gender-based Violence
Trauma can be defined as;
“an event, a series of events or a set of circumstances that is experienced by an individual as physically or emotionally harmful or life threatening” (SAMSHA, 2014)
GBV can often have traumatic impacts as it can cause people to feel overwhelmed, overpowered, violated or afraid for their safety. People subjected to ongoing abuse, abuse that is difficult to escape from, or abuse in the context of close relationships (child sexual abuse, domestic abuse) may experience complex trauma, which is more likely to lead to longer-term PTSD.
The NHS Scotland National Trauma Training Programme has a wide range of resources and information to help practitioners across the Scottish workforce understand more about trauma and its implications for their work.
