1PhD Scholar, Department of Psychiatric Social Work, NIMHANS, Bangalore-29, Karnataka, India
2Supervisor, Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), Kozhikode Urban No. 3, Kozhikode, Kerala, India
3Psychiatric Social Worker, Department of Psychiatric Social Work, NIMHANS, Bangalore-29, Karnataka, India
4Additional Professor, Department of Psychiatric Social Work, NIMHANS, Bangalore-29, Karnataka, India
*Correspondence: G Ragesh, MPhil, PhD Scholar, Department of Psychiatric Social Work, NIMHANS, Bangalore-29, Karnataka, India, rageshpsw@gmail.com
Online published on 2 January, 2017.
In India, women are not keen to seek formal help to solve the issue of domestic violence (DV).
Current study attempted to understand the profile of women who sought or availed institutional help (legal/counselling services etc.) to address DV.
Data were collected from sixty women aged between 18 years and 50 who faced domestic violence from their husbands.
Most of the respondents were young, unemployed and not well educated. They faced physical, emotional & verbal, sexual and economic types of violence from husbands and husbands'family members. Their children also witnessed DV. Perceived causes for DV were; husbands ’exposure on their parental violence, psychoactive substance abuse, dissatisfied sexual life, extra marital relationships in husbands and influence of other wife-beating family members. Most of them felt that DV as their fate and had attempted suicide. Even though many of them received legal help; many felt that, legal help was not adequate in addressing DV.
Importance of mental health approach to address DV has been discussed.
Mental Health, Law, Intimate Partner Violence
