MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES AND INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE AMONG MARRIED WOMEN IN RURAL AREAS OF SOUTH PUNJAB

Abstract

BACKGROUND: A prevalent worldwide public health concern that needs urgent attention is intimate partner violence (IPV), which is defined as behavior by an intimate partner that has the potential to cause physical, under a different name, sexual. The most prevalent type of violence in Punjab, Pakistan's rural areas is intimate partner violence (IPV).

MATERIALS AND METHODS: 565 married women who had been the victims of IPV in South Punjab's rural districts participated in in-depth interviews for this qualitative phenomenological study. Data was gathered using a semi-structured interview guide. Using a snowball sampling technique, these ladies were chosen between October 2022 and March 2023. The interviews were translated into English after being audio recorded in different language. Thematic inductive analysis was used to examine the data.

RESULTS: Using the socio-ecological framework, the study has given the many aspects of IPV in Pakistan's rural South Punjab. Culturally contextualized terms such as "protection," "mental delicacy," "physical submissiveness," and "social security" were introduced in the current study. Mental symptoms were common in the entire female population. However, in comparison to women who were not exposed to violence, women who experienced any kind of violence reported much worse mental health. Even after adjusting for sociodemographic variables, there was still a statistically significant difference for practically all of the health measures under study. The largest correlations were observed between sexual abuse, psychological abuse, and suicidal thoughts and physical aggression. According to the interviews, just 27% of the women who experienced violence and also told anyone about it, usually their parents.

CONCLUSION: Through public awareness campaigns drives inside public institutions such as the police and judiciary, expectations imposed by orthodoxy and gender-prejudiced roles, misinterpretations of Islamic teachings, and the dominant patriarchy can be challenged. Women can be empowered through education and employment, which can also assist to question traditional anti-feminist social norms and the function of kinship-based networks in the family and community.