Examining Violence Against Women Among Individuals with a History of Deliberate Self-Harm: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Violence against women, particularly intimate partner violence and sexual violence is a major public health problem and a violation of women’s human rights. Estimates published by WHO indicate that globally about 1 in 3 (30%) of women worldwide have been subjected to either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime¹. Violence can negatively affect women’s physical, mental, sexual, and reproductive health, and may increase the risk of acquiring HIV in some settings. Violence can lead to depression, post-traumatic stress and other anxiety disorders, sleep difficulties, eating disorders and suicide attempts². Materials and method: Using the criterion sampling, participants were selected in a tertiary care hospital. Assessments tools include COLUMBIA- SUICIDE SEVERITY RATING SCALE(C-SSRS), SEVERITY OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN SCALE. The objectives were to evaluate the proportion of women who are exposed to violence among those who attempted deliberate self-harm. SPSSv20.0 was used to analyse the data. Results: Out of 68 participants,24 used OP poisoning as a method of self-harm.27.9% had moderate-severe suicidal intensity. 29.4 % had no suicidal intensity. 52.9% had lethality score of 2 which signifies moderate physical damage. 33.8% had mild violence. 7.4% had serious violence plus sexual aggression. There was significant correlation between severity of suicidal intensity and severity of violence. (p =0.002). Conclusion: The results point to a significant correlation between severity of suicidal ideation intensity and violence. This highlights that violence being one of the risk factors for deliberate self-harm. This warrants us for public education against domestic violence and timely psychosocial management of the vulnerable cases through a protracted community based mental health program, which will help to reduce the frequency of DSH and domestic violence.