A high exposure to violence and traumatic events A HIGH INCIDENCE OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE In Lesvos, MSF teams treated 213 survivors of sexual violence between January and mid-September 2017. Between 1 and 19 September alone, our Lesvos medical team treated 30 patients for such violence. Overall, half of these patients experienced the sexual violence in their country of origin (112 patients), a quarter in Turkey (61 patients) and ten percent were raped multiple times (21 patients). Close to 80% of the survivors of sexual violence we treated were from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Cameroon. Number of survivors of sexual violence treated in MSF’s Lesvos clinic (October 2016 - September 2017) FLEEING FROM AND THROUGH VIOLENCE Asylum seekers arriving on Greece’s shores have been widely exposed to traumatic events, which increases their vulnerability to mental health disorders, including depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. Having fled from violence, many patients explained that they faced further violence and trauma during their journey to Greece. In Samos, close to half (45%) of people surveyed reported having experienced violence in Turkey.6 60% of that violence was beatings, 70% of which was committed by the police or army and 18.7% by smugglers. The survey also found that people who had arrived on Samos after the EUTurkey deal reported more violence in Turkey than people who had arrived before the deal. “ My wife, two children and I had to leave our lives in Mosul behind. We left one day, with nothing, so that no one would be suspicious and target us. People were looking for us, they killed my brother and father. We had no choice. 42-year-old man from Iraq, Samos, September 2017 “ 80% of our new mental health patients treated in July and August 2017 on Lesvos reported experiencing violence (47 out of 59 patients), just over a quarter reported experiencing torture (16 out of 59 patients) and 19% reported experiencing sexual violence (11 out of 59 patients). Number of patients In late 2016 and early 2017, the study conducted by Epicentre and MSF found that just under half of the people surveyed in Ritsona5 and 95% of people surveyed in Samos said that they had fled from war. The qualitative part of the survey confirmed this high prevalence of violence and highlighted how leaving their country was seen as the only possible alternative to avoid death. October-December January-March April-June 2016 2017 2017 July-September 2017 (until 19.09. 2017) Note: The increase in sexual violence cases treated by our Lesvos team is partly linked to the growing knowledge of our services. Significantly, only a third of our patients on Lesvos that have been survivors of sexual violence have been identified as vulnerable7 – despite such violence clearly being in the list of officially recognized vulnerabilities. This critical gap in identification8 means that most patients will not get access to the protection and care that they need, and will not be transferred to the mainland. In addition to this, lack of appropriate medical care and services for survivors of sexual violence on Lesvos means that those that require urgent care in the critical 72 hours after an attack on the island are unlikely to have access to it. |4 “ © Tiziana Cauli/MSF “ I arrived in Turkey on 1 March and someone was waiting for me at the airport with a sign with my name written on it. When he took my bag I knew something was wrong. [….] He told me that they wanted to get their money back […]. In the basement where he took me there was only a little mattress and barely any light. The place was condemned and it was impossible to get out […] one white man entered the room. […] I tried to fight him. He strangled me while I was shouting, I cried so much. They forced me with five to seven men per day […] sometimes it was two men at a time. [….] I have a respiratory problem so one day, I faked a breathing crisis and managed to escape. […] When I saw the water of the sea I felt so relieved… 27-year-old woman from Cameroon, Lesvos, September 2017 A child shoe left in the Samos Reception & Identification Center. 5|