Sexualised war violence – a trauma in Germany, too

historischen Foto einer Frau mit Kind “I once experienced an aged woman who one day panicked and started talking about animals being in her bed. Her attacks of fear re-occurred during the next few days. She was given a prescription for Haldol, and said herself, that she did not feel that she was being taken seriously. After lengthy discussions, it turned out that she had been raped by American soldiers in 1945.”
(Martina Böhmer, staff member of a care home and author)

Psychological trauma a taboo – in Germany, too

Not only in foreign cultures does the social cloak of silence prevent sexualised war violence from being discovered and avenged so that its survivors can experience help and justice. Social rules in most patriarchal societies prevent survivors of sexual violence from receiving any help or support from their relatives. In Kosovo, an Albanian woman was raped by members of the Serb militia while attempting to flee. However, the crime was never mentioned. It was an undeclared taboo, part of the “code of honour” of both her family and her home village. Thus, the rape victim was forced to remain silent – for fear that she might become an outcast for compromising the “honour” of her family.

This abhorent state of affairs is not so far removed from us here in Germany. Living with the taboo, living with the pressure of having had to remain silent for decades – the cloak of silence exists here, too. How many women survivors suffered violence at the hands of uniformed victors in air raid shelters and refugee camps during the two world wars? Not to mention the crimes of German occupational forces before the end of the war: Violence committed against women and girls in concentration camps and forced prostitution.

An inner awareness of the “shame” connected with these crimes has caused many women to remain silent for decades – even until today. One prominent victim is the wife of our former Chancellor, Mrs. Hannelore Kohl, who in her biography explained her attitudes today to be the result of having experienced multiple rapes by Russian soldiers after W.W. II. She, too, remained silent for decades. And with her, so did millions of other women.

Experiences with sexualised violence in the biographies of aged women – A woman-oriented approach toward working with them

The staff member of a care home and author, Martina Böhmer, has condensed her experience with sexualised violence in the biographies of aged women into a book which both informs the reader and created sensitivity to the problem . Many people who work with aged women in care homes, hospitals, or in hospices simply do not know how easily patients can be re-traumatised through simple care procedures or errors of which one is unaware. Women between the ages of 60 and 100 rarely speak about their experiences. Those who can read between the lines can guess what happened to them, develop a sense of understanding, and create sheltered areas where care and healing are made possible.
Martina Böhmer, Mabuse Verlag, Frankfurt/Main, 2000. ISBN 3-933050-16-2

The author is willing to share her experiences in seminars and workshops. Further information can be found at her website www.martinaboehmer.de.

The organisation "Bundesvernetzung autonomer Frauennotrufe" BaF (National Network of Autonomous Hotlines for Women in Need) has published a great deal on information on the theme of “Sexualised Violence in the Lives of Female Senior Citizens” on the internet. www.frauennotrufe.de/uebergewalt11.html

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