Women, Global Violence, & Mental Health
The global gender gap in violence against women remains massive and recalcitrant. One consequence that cuts across all forms of gendered violence is the public health issue of post-violence mental health disorders that are suffered in significantly greater numbers by women worldwide.
In 2020, GWNP created our Duty of Care protocol with partner organizations.
Our rationale and action items—
Undue Burden.
When women’s trauma is left unreported and untreated, it places an undue burden on the woman and on her family and community, further reinforcing the cycle of physical, psychological, economic, structural, and spiritual violence.
Resilience.
Women often face mental health settings that are humiliating and violate their dignity. Women need to have safe spaces to seek help from women within their own communities; this can be overwhelming for staff who are not trained in resilience methods and recognizing secondary trauma.
Lack of Access.
Case illustrations report the barriers many rural women face in accessing mental health facilities that are usually located in urban areas.
Unreported Violence.
WHO statistics on intimate partner GBV show that 20% to 60% of women told no one about the violence, and few sought institutional help, even from health care services.
Scalable Techniques.
There is a general lack of mental health facilities. Teaching self-care and scalable narrative techniques to women leaders and staff across community nonprofits and agencies is cost-effective.
Staff Training.
Trauma-informed techniques are useful for staff across various organizations—religious groups, health clinics, job training support.
Facts to consider—
Women suffer Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and depression at triple the rate of men globally.
Over 50% of women who live with mental illness have previously experienced some sort of violent trauma.
Almost one-third of all women globally have experienced intimate partner violence or sexual violence.
Gender inequalities are pernicious in resource allocation, routine violence, and lack of access to economic development and health facilities.
Current legal and procedural mechanisms to address women’s mental health are dishearteningly inadequate.
Despite efforts in recent decades to end violence against women, shifts in behavior are barely discernible.
Mental health consequences for women experiencing war and violence are extraordinarily burdensome and long-term, compounding other health and economic challenges and contributing to intergenerational trauma.
After failing to protect women from experiencing violent trauma in the first place, the international community has a special duty to provide mental health services after the offenses have occurred.
