What is it about?
Civilians suffer as a result of their exposure to hostilities, but nobody has researched so far how the mental harm of these civilians is affected by their socio-economic status. The article researches and shows how civilians with stronger family ties, higher education levels and higher income, will most likely experience war trauma less severely.
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Why is it important?
The article shows how socio-economic factors should be considered when discussing civilian war trauma. This is important for example for military commanders, who are called by the laws of war to wage a balance in military operations between the anticipated military advantage and the incurred civilian mental harm. The article shows that military operations in poor countries where education ties and income are lower or in poorer suburbs of a city would leave a heavier mental impact on the civilian population and this is something that army commanders must take into account when they come to argue for the anticipated military advantage.
Perspectives
The publication offers a unique perspective on the role socio-economic parameters and by extension socio-economic rights can play in situations of warfare and to the assessment of the civilian war trauma. It also calls into question whether, given the impact income has on the experiencing of such war trauma, warfare and civilian trauma should be read on economy-focused, Marxist terms.
Associate Professor (Senior Lecturer) Solon Solomon
Brunel University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Is All Mental Harm Equal? The Importance of Discussing Civilian War Trauma from a Socio-Economic Legal Framework’s Perspective, Nordic Journal of International Law, June 2023, Brill,
DOI: 10.1163/15718107-bja10061.
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