Background and Objective: Hundreds of millions of people affected from natural and man-made disasters in the world and about 80 percent of these people are women and children. Women and girls for various social, economic, cultural and health reasons are more vulnerable in times of disaster. This study aimed to investigate the impact of displacement on women's mental and social health.
Methods: This research is an analytical review of articles that was studied by searching articles in Iranian databases: SID, Magiran and Irandoc, and foreign databases: Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, Google Scholar and by using of keywords such as: Psychological vulnerability, mental health, women in disasters, refugees, disasters and their possible combinations.
Results: According to the different needs of women in disaster such as deprivation in access to health services, prenatal care, specific health concerns, forcing in nutrition of children, the risk of sexual violence, sexually transmitted diseases, emotional and economic dependence and difficulty in social interactions, the vulnerability of this group in terms of displacement can be classified in five dimensions (1) health, (2) self-care, (3) livelihoods, (4) social capital and (5) social support.
Conclusion: In disasters, cultural barriers, physical health problems, communication barriers, language and social and economic problems are the most important struggles of women that lead to mental disorders. Therefore, programs should be designed related to prevention, preparedness and response based on women’s needs and challenges with them participating; it is important that sufficient political and economic support from governments and involved organizations in these programs will be allocated. |
