HYDERABAD: The mental health problems of the Pakistani women are congruent to the global issues of gender equity, violence and psychological well-being and the Pakistani women are relatively better off than their counterparts in other developing countries of South Asia.
Talking to this scribe here on Wednesday eminent psychiatrist and Consultant Dr. Darya Khan Leghari said that economic difficulties have forced Pakistani women to come out of their houses and contribute to their house- finances however, with more and more women entering the workplace, the problem of gender biased harassment is increasing in our society.
He said almost all working-women, at one time or another faced harassment and the domestic servants and poor women working on the fields of landlords and contractors are especially vulnerable.
Dr. Darya Khan said that the harassment is a world wide issue but unfortunately in Pakistan, there is no mechanism for redressal and harassment at workplace is a starting point and later it has to be tackled on the streets, markets and public transport, he added.
He said that analysing the scenario of female status in Pakistan and the consequential effects on their mental health, one finds a marked diversity in the lives of the urban and rural women, be it their identity, self-image, political awareness, freedom of expression or social status, he added.
All these factors contribute to women's perception of their role and women's role by other members of the society and affecting their mental health.
He said that the social system, based on the oppressive exploitative nature of the Pakistani male, both authoritative and patriarchal, have negative effects on a woman's identity and reproduction, leaving a deep mark on the female psyche.
He said that the women doubt their self worth, as well as the basic human needs of respect and dignity and affirmation and the factors contributing to such doubts include societal and family pressures.
Dr. Darya Khan said that the restricted mobility for women, affects their education and work and job opportunities. This adds to the already fewer educational facilities for women.
He said that sexual harassment at home, at work and in society has reached its peak for lack of awareness or denial of its existence, further confining women, he added.
He further said that a marriage quite often leads to wife battering, conflict with spouse, conflict with the in- laws, dowry deaths, stove burns, suicide and acid burns to disfigure women in revenge besides issues related to fertility and second marriage, he added.
Dr. Darya Khan informed that around the world at least one in every three women is beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime.
He said that women are confined to abusive relationships lacking ability to escape their captors due to social pressures.
He said that worldwide one of the most common forms of abuse against women is by their husbands and other intimate male partners. He said that partner violence occurs in all countries and there are social, religious, economic and cultural gaps.
He said that partner abuse can take a variety of forms including physical violence, assaults such as slaps, kicks, hits, and beatings, psychological abuse, constant belittling and humiliation.
Dr. Darya informed that like many cultures in Pakistan men have the right to control their wives' behaviour and women do not challenge this right and the women are expected to look after the house and the children and to show obedience and respect to the man who is expected to provide financial support to the family. However his failure to do so oftentimes results in the wives having to work from morning to night, without any guilt on the husband's part, he added.
He said that the reaching out to men and changing social norms to change their behaviour is an important part of any solution to violence against women and such programmes focus on traditional attitudes regarding gender roles and male dominance attempting to deal with the root causes.
About the psychiatrics condition Dr. Darya Khan said majority of women are housewives and are economically dependent on men and not conscious of their legal rights.
He said that the psycho-social stressors of our women are present throughout their life-cycle, from childhood to adolescence, adulthood, middle age and old age.
He said that when women have psychological problems or mental illness their symptoms are considered to be a magical spell or "Asar" and they are taken to "spiritualists", "maulvis" or "pirs" but if they have physical complaints they are taken to homoeopaths or "hakims" or doctors, he added.
Dr. Khan informed that most of the people who attempted suicide were less than 30 years of age and more women than men were represented. An important difference from western studies is that larger number of married women compared to married men or single women were represented. This along with other psychiatric morbidity figures giving higher representation of married women is disturbing and points towards marital and family conflicts and increased incidence of domestic violence towards married women.
He said that the women living in nuclear families had more depression, then those living in extended families but both younger men and women with lower levels of education had increased risk of psychiatric disorders, he added.
About the working women Dr. Darya Khan said that these women keep struggling to gain recognition as productive and effective member of the society but these women juggle precariously between job work and household responsibilities, marital and family relationships, their own self-image and self-esteem issues, decline in traditional norms, dual career-families, encounter problems in relationships, survival in fast growing global village and recognition to advancement of comparable status with women of other developing countries, he added.
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