An in-depth Study on the impacts of Operation Murambatsvina 4.1.3 Variation in types of trauma As can be seen from Table 5 below, there is wide variation in the types of traumatic events reported by the sample as a whole. Lack of food or water, ill-health without access to medical care, lack of shelter, any other situation that was very frightening or feeling that life was in danger, and confiscation or destruction of property were significantly more frequent than any other types of trauma reported. Additionally, feeling dependent on others was also markedly more frequent, and all of these together indicate the traumatic consequences of Operation Murambatsvina. As pointed out earlier, most of these items were included because of their hypothesized salience to Operation Murambatsvina, and this effect was found in fact. As can also be seen from Table 5, items related to organized violence and torture were also reported with a relatively high frequency. Torture, imprisonment, and severe beatings were reported with much the same frequency as in the reports of human rights organizations, but the traumas of ordinary life - motor traffic accidents, industrial accident, rape and sexual abuse other than rape – are less commonly reported. Although there is variation across the three sites, the rankings for thee frequencies of the various items were remarkably consistent and statistically significant [see Table 5 below]. Table 5: Frequency of responses on Trauma Questionnaire: Experiences only [Percentages & Ranks] [n=1195] Number Lack of food or water 915 Ill health without access to medical care 580 Lack of shelter 536 Imprisonment 236 Serious injury 247 Caught up in combat 325 Rape 79 Forced isolation from others 273 Being close to death 320 Forced separation from family members 350 Murder of family or friends 97 Unnatural death of family or friends 195 Murder of stranger or strangers 48 Lost or kidnapped 110 Severe beatings 392 Torture 293 Motor traffic accident 206 Industrial accident 152 Natural disaster(flood, fire, etc) 438 Any other situation that was very frightening 586 or you felt that your life was in danger Confiscation or destruction of property 582 Sexual abuse other than rape 172 Feeling dependent on others 436 Percentage & Ranks 76.6% [1] 48.9% [3] 44.9% [5] 19.8% [16] 20.7% [15] 27.2% [10] 6,.6% [22] 22.9% [14] 26.8% [11] 29.3% [9] 8.1% [21] 16.3% [17] 4.02% [23] 9.2%[20] 32.8% [8] 24.5% [12] 24.5% [12] 12.7% [19] 36.7% [6] 49.1% [2] 48.7% [4] 14.4% [18] 36.5% [7] Table 6 below shows the comparative frequency of responses for the 3 sites sampled. As can be seen, there is the general trend towards Harare reporting more frequent trauma than 17

Select target paragraph3

Add to table of contents