Mental health and violence against women in Afghanistan, India, and Sri Lanka: a situation analysis

Quinlan-Davidson, Meaghen; Ahmad, Ayesha; ASHER, LAURA; Bhatia, Urvita; Daruwalla, Nayreen; Devakumar, Delan; Nadkarni, abhijit; Palfreyman, Alexis; Saboor, Lamba; Samanmalee, Rasika; Osrin, David

Abstract

Background.

Globally, 10-53% of ever-partnered women have experienced physical or sexual intimate partner violence over their lifetime. Women survivors of violence are at high risk of poor mental health. In this study, we investigate women’s exposure to violence and mental health conditions in Afghanistan, India, and Sri Lanka, while considering the policy and service contexts.

Methods.

A situation analysis tool was developed for the study. We extracted information from grey and peer-reviewed literature and other publicly available data investigating the prevalence of violence against women and mental health conditions, policies addressing violence against women and mental health conditions in each country, and the services available to women exposed to violence and women with mental health conditions.

Results.

Forty-six percent of women in Afghanistan, 21% of women in India and 5% of women in Sri Lanka reported experiencing physical violence within the last 12 months of the most recent survey. Meanwhile, 7% of ever-partnered women in Afghanistan, 6% of women in India and 7% of women in Sri Lanka reported experiencing sexual violence during their lifetime. In India, 6.9% of disability adjusted life years were attributed to childhood sexual abuse and 4.6% to intimate partner violence. In Sri Lanka, 14.6% of women exposed to physical or sexual violence by a partner had engaged in self-harm. We found no data on conflict-related sexual violence and trafficking. All three countries have made commitments to gender equality or preventing violence against women. Implementation of some of these policies, however, is unclear. The countries also have had mental health policies and services, but there is currently little intersection between mental health and violence against women.

Limitations.

The situation analysis is limited by the data available and the generalizability of findings.

Conclusion.

The three countries have limited data, policies, and legislation on the intersection between all forms of violence against women and poor mental health, as well as a paucity of mental health service provision.

Future Work.

Future research should focus on integrating mental healthcare within social services; translating trauma-informed approaches into service provision; and addressing family violence, within VAW

Citation

Quinlan-Davidson, M., Ahmad, A., ASHER, L., Bhatia, U., Daruwalla, N., Devakumar, D., Nadkarni, A., Palfreyman, A., Saboor, L., Samanmalee, R., & Osrin, D. (in press). Mental health and violence against women in Afghanistan, India, and Sri Lanka: a situation analysis. F1000Research,

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 8, 2025
• Deposit Date: Feb 21, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 26, 2025
• Electronic ISSN: 2046-1402
• Publisher: F1000Research
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/45599291
• Publisher URL: https://f1000research.com/