An in-depth Study on the impacts of Operation Murambatsvina EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This present study is an extension and elaboration of previous work on Operation Murambatsvina. It arose out of the need to have more in-depth information about a number of key areas in their lives and experiences of those affected by Operation Murambatsvina; namely, trauma, HIV/AIDS, legal issues, and losses. A structured questionnaire was used in the collection of data from 1,195 respondents distributed in 58 affected high density wards in 3 urban centres of Zimbabwe. The questionnaire was designed to elicit detailed information on 4 thematic areas: trauma, HIV/AIDS, legal issues, and losses in the affected communities. Data collected was entered stored and exported into Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) Version 13. Subsequently, analysis was done to generate frequencies, descriptive and derived variables. Trauma The effects of trauma were assessed by means of a psychiatric screening instrument (SRQ-8), and a trauma questionnaire. The results of the SRQ - 8 indicate an exceptionally high prevalence of psychological disorder. A total of 824 persons gave responses in the clinically significant range, 4 or more, which gave a prevalence rate of 69%. As regards an estimate of how many people will need assistance, it can be conservatively estimated that about 820,000 individuals are in need of psychological assistance, but the actual figure is likely to be higher. Statistical analysis indicated a number of significant relationships between psychological disorder, as measured by the SRQ-8, and trauma. Our data indicated the following: • • • • A significant relationship between current psychological disorder and the number of trauma events reported; A significant relationship between current psychological disorder and trauma due to OVT [organized violence and torture]; A significant relationship between current psychological disorder and trauma due to displacement events [OM items]; A significant relationship between current psychological disorder and repeated exposure to trauma. There are also interesting relations between psychological disorder and the contribution of trauma reported by time period. The strongest relationship is with trauma reported in 2005, but the trend is towards increasing levels since the 1990s. As regards the types of trauma reported, there is the general trend towards Harare reporting more frequent trauma than Mutare and Bulawayo respectively. A general trend was observed, of trauma due to Operation Muramabatsvina, which remained the same across the three sites: lack of food or water was the most frequent trauma reported across all three sites. iv