Paul Farmer, an American medical anthropologist and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, is recognized for his commendable contribution to the field of anthropology and also finding and developing a non-profit health organization that provides free treatments to patients, working largely in the third world countries. In one of his famous articles “On suffering andstructural violence: A view from below”, he has focused primarily on the physical and mental suffering experienced by an individual. The article narrates the story of two young Haitians who became the victims of social injustice and violence in Haiti and that ultimately became the source of their death. The article looks deeply into the everyday structural violence perpetrated by the social forces in Haiti and how the fate and lives of millions of people are affected and suffered by the violence and fierceness of these forces. The author also talks about the sufferings caused by the political violence committed by the authoritarian governments. The article has shed a light on the then ongoing situation in Haiti where oppression and violence was rampant and the Haitians had to live in extreme poverty with fear and under repression.
The author has conducted qualitative descriptive research by examining the case studies. He provides an account of the life stories of two young Haitians, Acephie and Chouchou, who became the victims of structural and political violence in Haiti. He has intensively analyzed the lives of these two Haitians and descriptively narrated the events occurred in their lives in a great detail. The author has related his research with different anthropological theories, for example he takes into account the feminist theory. His research shows that women are more vulnerable to violence than men. Though in many cases men are the target of political violence but the sufferings of women are much more commonplace. Whether its domestic violence, rape or AIDS, women are more vulnerable to these issues than men.
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