Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41437092›Full record

ArticleConflict and health2025

Exposure to wartime sexual violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina: nationally representative prevalence 30 years after the 1992-1995 war.

Max Schaub, Alina Greiner-Filsinger, Ajla Henic, Lennart Kasserra

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Conflict and health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Max SchaubUniversity of Hamburg, Allende-Platz 1, 20146, Hamburg, Germany. max.schaub@uni-hamburg.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2057-7002
Alina Greiner-FilsingerUniversity of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany.
Ajla HenicUniversity of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
Lennart KasserraUniversity of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAlthough Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the most studied cases of wartime sexual violence, reliable population-based data on such violence remain lacking. This study provides nationally representative prevalence estimates of direct, family-level, and community-level exposure to sexual violence nearly 30 years after the 1992-1995 war, and reports descriptive associations with selected psychosocial indicators. 

methodsWe conducted a face-to-face household survey of 2,059 adults in 2024 using stratified, multi-stage sampling. Personal, family, and community exposure to wartime sexual violence were measured as part of a module recording victimization experiences. To assess potential underreporting, we included list experiments as an indirect measure. 

resultsPersonal exposure to wartime sexual violence was reported by [Formula: see text] of respondents, while [Formula: see text] reported family exposure and [Formula: see text] indicated that someone in their community had been victimized. Family exposure varied sharply by ethnicity, with [Formula: see text] among Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim), [Formula: see text] among Croat, and [Formula: see text] among Serb respondents. List experiment results yielded comparable estimates: [Formula: see text] for personal exposure and [Formula: see text] for family exposure. Respondents reporting exposure exhibited lower well-being, poorer self-rated health, more frequent sleep disturbances, and higher levels of domestic violence. 

conclusionsThese findings provide the first robust, nationally representative estimates of wartime sexual violence exposure in Bosnia and Herzegovina. They underscore the enduring social and health consequences of wartime sexual violence and highlight the need for sustained mental health and social support interventions to address its intergenerational legacy.

Identifiers

PMID41437092
PMCPMC12754861

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.