Trauma Healing & Stress Management

Peace Keepers’ Trauma Healing and Domestic Violence Reduction

Country: Fiji

Partner: Pacific Centre for Peacebuilders (PCP)

The Royal Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) currently employees 3,500 soldiers, and of these, a substantial number are currently working in conflict zones around the world as UN Peacekeepers. RFMF staff, soldiers, and officers face the difficult prospect of fighting in complex, stressful and traumatic environments (including Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon, East Timor, Sudan) without an outlet for emotional expression, stress management techniques, and the proper processes and systems with RFMF to support staff (women and men) through trauma. Stress is compounded by the organisation’s limited gendered awareness and ability to cater for the increasing numbers of women entering into peace keeping roles.

Within this organisational structure, political environment and organisational culture, the soldiers are constantly under pressure – from society, family, the army, and in violent situations whilst ‘peacekeeping’ overseas.

Due to lack of appropriate training, soldiers can take their culturally defined and gendered notions of women and men’s social roles into conflict environments can mean that these soldiers do not appropriately consult with local women on the impact of the conflict on women, ways to prevent conflict and to build peace process, contra to women’s human rights instruments and specific peace keeping requirements under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325).

When soldiers return they often find the tables have turned on power relations within their families – where prior to their absence the male soldiers controlled decision making and money within the household, they may return to find their wives’ taking responsibility for these areas. For women who have worked with the army abroad, in addition to having access to a high income (which may challenge gender roles) they may be subject to suspicions of unfaithfulness. In both cases, the gap between stereotypical gender roles and the actual situation compounds existing trauma and stress, and often results in a violent response, by way of physical abuse of wives and families.

Pacific Centre for Peacebuilding aims to assist these men, women and their partners and families in trauma healing through a series of workshops that help soldiers and officers see their stress within a gendered framework, and learn non-violent methods to deal with conflict and stress; that also promote women’s rights and UNSCR 1325. In addition, PCP has been working with military personnel to develop HR policies to bring about change in the organisation’s masculine culture and poor management of stress and trauma.

Project Objectives

• To influence the RFMF’s Human Rights systems to incorporate stress management, trauma healing, and equal and respectful treatment of women.
• To increase capacity of military personnel and their families to employ gender sensitive non-violent methods of peace making, peace building skills, conflict analysis, mediation, trauma healing and restorative justice whilst overseas on peace keeping missions and when they return home

This project is funded by IWDA supporters.

-last updated 25/02/09

Tags: Domestic Violence, Fiji, PCP, Safety and Security, Trauma Healing
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