Gender, violence and mental health: An international perspective Ranjani.K.Murthy, rk_km2000@yahoo.com Researcher, Gender, Poverty and Health Presentation prepared for BALM’s symposium on Gender, Violence and Mental Health, May, 25, 2015

Objectives Gender GB Violence against women Mental health Connections International policies on practice

Gender Relations Gender Relations are socially constructed power relations between men and women, which interlock with other power relations like: Race Caste Class Ethnicity and religion Abilities Sexual orientation and gender identity (Whitehead, 1979+ Cornwall …) NOT GENDER ROLES

Violence Against Women “Means any act of gender-based violence, that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life”. UN, Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women 1993 Mobility as liberty

What does VAW encompass? UN, 1993 Physical, sexual psychological- wife battering, FGM, marital rape, dowry, non spousal violence, traditional practices etc Family Physical, sexual psychological- rape, sexual abuse, sexual harassment, intimidation, trafficking, forced prostitution etc Com/work /edu Physical, sexual psychological- perpetuated and condoned by state State

Mental Health Mental health is defined as a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community. (WHO, 2014)

The links gender, violence and mental health (WHO) One in 3 suffer from depression, anxiety and somatic conditions- >W 1 in 5 men and 1 in 12 women develop alcohol dependence Violence against women (16-50%,)one important factor contributing to depression/PTSD Rates of depression are 3-4 times higher for women who have experienced violence Women more likely to seek for mental health, men for alcohol use- but diagnosis and treatment poor Violence as one of the causal factors is rarely investigated;

Link- gender, mental health and violence the other side Women and girls with mental illness labelled possessed/disturbed inflicted with violence Women and girls with mental illness more vulnerable to VAW Men and women with some forms of severe untreated mental illness may be violent against women

Is there attention to the links between gender, VAWG, and mental health? Increasing Burden of mental health diseases VAWG Inequality Little-CEDAW, Vienna, Beijing, GC ICESCR, Draft SDGs More DISABILITY CONVENTION, 2006 Beijing+20, 2015, CEDAW, 1979 only VAW, Vienna, 1993 and Beijing, 1995 both but not interlinkage

Convention on rights of People with disability, 2006 – on Women States Parties shall put in place effective legislation and policies to ensure violence against persons (women) with disabilities are identified, investigated and prosecuted. State parties ensure access by women and girls with disabilities to social protection and poverty reduction programmes;

WHAT MORE CAN BE DONE Internationally/nationally Better Statistics : UN Gender Statistics (integrate this better) and National statistics. Beyond WHO- UNICEF, UNDP- UNDAF document SDGs- One indicator on VAW and mental health. All women coming for mental health care screened for VAW. Develop international and national protocol on the same Understanding perpetrators.

National strategies: Gender, VAW and mental health Integrate in NHMs National protocol development Training of health police, personnel Treatment Legal, counseling housing livelihood Reintegration SHGs, MGNREGA Work with men and boys

Strategies: Understand perpetrators (Srivatsava, 2012) Not sex, but gender Childhood experience of violence Social learning Screen alcohol use case for violence and serious mental illness

Develop strategies for all three! Gender/ masulinities VAW Mental health