The very name refugees underlines the hope that safety and refuge can be found in a new home once one manages to successfully escape a homeland that has become so perilous.  Unfortunately, research from Northeastern highlights how for refugees in America, that isn’t always the case.

The research explores the mental health impact of violence on refugees to try and better understand the ongoing issues facing an already marginalized population.  The study originated in part due to the lack of understanding of how refugees do once they’ve resettled in a new country.

Exposed to violence

While the researchers suspected that refugees were exposed to significant amounts of violence in their new home, the level of it nonetheless surprised them. The study found that over half of the people spoken to for the research had direct experience of violence.

Perhaps understandably, this violence was having a significant impact on the mental health of the victims.  Indeed, this violence appeared to have a bigger impact on their mental health than violence related to political conflict did.  In other words, the violence they experienced in America was as harmful to their mental wellbeing as that caused by the suffering they experienced in their homeland.

This is significant, as many refugees experienced beatings, severe injuries, and forced removal from their homes in their homeland.  Sadly, with the exception of being forced from their home, many also reported similar experiences in America too, including armed robberies and beatings.

Refugees reported not only violence in and around their homes and neighborhoods, but also structural and interpersonal discrimination, whether due to their refugees status, their skin color, or their faith (or all three).  It’s a situation the authors urge communities to address with greater investment.

“There needs to be more investment in communities that work with refugee populations, both in the systems that support refugees specifically but also in the communities themselves,” they say. “In addition, violence after resettlement is something that mental health providers can be more actively attuned to. In general, there is a lot of focus on what sort of trauma refugees experienced before they resettled, and rightfully so. However, we need to pay more attention to the challenges they experience after seeking asylum, including the violence they continue to face.”