It's Not Just the Alcohol: Gender, Alcohol Use, and Intimate Partner Violence in Mae La Refugee Camp, Thailand, 2009

Abstract

Alcohol use is common in many conflict-displaced populations; population perspectives of alcohol use have not been well studied. Interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of 97 people (September–December 2009) in Mae La, a long-standing refugee camp on the Thai-Burma border, and analyzed thematically. Intimate partner violence (IPV) emerged as a prominent theme, with four subthemes: alcohol use is subject to strongly gendered social controls; alcohol use is changing under the pressures of displacement; IPV is an emergent alcohol-related harm; the relationship between IPV and alcohol is complex. The study's limitations are noted, and future practice and research directions are discussed.

Keywords :

• intimate partner violence
• refugee
• displaced populations
• alcohol
• conflict
• violence against women
• Thailand–Burma border
• substance use
• qualitative research
• gender