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PART III : THEORY
In Sudan , rape victims are often blamed for their own rape , not least because it is widely believed that women cannot become pregnant as a result of undesired sex . Women and men in Darfur are raised to believe that rape is avoidable and can be prevented . In most cases , the mother of a child born of rape is no longer marriageable , because brides are expected to be virgins . Rape victims , and their children , are considered to have brought shame on their families , which is likely to exclude both . Even in communities that accept such babies , the child may be judged if it shows behavioural problems and may be abandoned .
What needs to be done to address discrimination against war children and their mothers ?
There can be no single approach to this issue , not least because ‘ war children ’ are a very diverse group , in both their circumstances and their upbringing . Roosendaal ( 2011 ) argues that it is vital to address the issue sensitively for this reason . Both the mothers and their children need and are entitled to receive psychological help to cope with their situation . In practical terms , assistance programmes should make sure that both receive adequate support , and should recognise that it cannot be assumed that mothers will be willing to look after their children , or are capable of doing so ( Mochmann 2008 ).
Children of raped mothers : consequences for the motherchild interaction
War and traumatic stress severely hamper parental efforts to keep their children safe . Some evidence shows that maternal trauma negatively affects the biological and physiological development of children ( Yehuda , Blair , Labinsky , and Bierer 2007 ) and the early mother-child relationship ( Almqvist and Broberg 1997 , 2003 ). Parental mental health problems also impede a child ’ s social development and increase the risk that a child will have mental health problems , especially if it is living in a context of violence and trauma ( Yule 2000 ).
Attachment theory is also relevant to families living in such environments . It models how children learn to seek shelter , regulate fear and arousal , express emotions , and trust themselves and others in their early dyadic relationships ( Bretherton 1992 ). A child that has secure relationships with sensitive and available adults is able to achieve a balance between emotional exploration and restraint . By contrast , children who seek protection in themselves tend to avoid risk , and ambivalent children tend to cling to adults to obtain a sense of safety .
Traumatised parents , for their part , withdraw from interaction with their children , or overprotect them , because of their own fears .
The concept of ‘ intergenerational transmission of trauma ’ was developed to describe children who react to their parents ’ traumatisation by developing symptoms of trauma themselves ( Danieli 1998 ). Such children have not necessarily had traumatic experiences ; the trauma is communicated to them through their dyadic relationships . Fear in a mother ’ s eyes is especially traumatising for infants , and traumatised mothers often lack energy , express flat emotions and disengage from relationships . Parents may be numb , in denial , or overwhelmed by their memories , and may oscillate between absent-mindedness and intrusive dyadic interaction with their children ( Punamaki , Qouta , El Sarraj , and Montgomery 2006 ). When a trauma is processed well , the fragmented emotions it generates are integrated gradually . Helping mothers to process their traumatic memories is therefore of very great importance for the development of their children .