IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/cysrev/v119y2020ics0190740920320296.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exploring the sexual coercion and mental health among young female psychiatric patients in India

Author

Listed:
  • Rai, Rashmi
  • Rai, Ambarish Kumar

Abstract

Globally, the research has consistently found that at least one-third and as many as three-quarters of women report a history of sexual coercion and associated cause for mental-health problem. The majority of the research on sexual coercion comes from developed countries. Women in India are 'taught' to be inferior to men, are expected to serve, obey and satisfy their husband’s sexual needs. Research exploring the subjective experience of coercion, the context in which it occurs and its consequences among women living in Indian society with a psychiatric disorder are urgently needed. Therefore, the current study uses a qualitative research design and phenomenological approach to explore the issues related to sexual coercion among Indian women living with a psychiatric disorder. Results illustrated psychiatric women (n = 168) reported that their husbands were the prime (50%) perpetrator. Further, teachers (25%), blood relatives (19%) and their friends (6.5%) followed the numbers of perpetrators. About 40% of respondents reported a history of sexual abuse before the age of 18, and 62% of women experienced marital rape. The childlessness of women also causes for sexual coercion. About three-fifth women never report such incidence of sexual coercion. Many women in India, with mental disorders, have been and continue to be exposed to sexual coercion. Interestingly, all women were facing this because they were women in a patriarchal society. In summary, concerted efforts at social, emotional and legal levels can bring change in the lives of Indian women and contribute to the improvement of the mental health of these women. The findings can be used in structuring culturally appropriate, but valid programs aimed at reducing both sexual coercion and the respective mental disorders. Further mixed method research is recommended to enrich and quantify our understanding.

Suggested Citation

  • Rai, Rashmi & Rai, Ambarish Kumar, 2020. "Exploring the sexual coercion and mental health among young female psychiatric patients in India," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:119:y:2020:i:c:s0190740920320296
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105606
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740920320296
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105606?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Syamala, T S, 2012. "Infertility in India: Levels, trends, determinants and consequences," Working Papers 284, Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore.
    2. Rohini Pande & Nan Astone, 2007. "Explaining son preference in rural India: the independent role of structural versus individual factors," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 26(1), pages 1-29, February.
    3. Koenig, M.A. & Stephenson, R. & Ahmed, S. & Jejeebhoy, S.J. & Campbell, J., 2006. "Individual and contextual determinants of domestic violence in North India," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 96(1), pages 132-138.
    4. Monica Das Gupta & Li Shuzhuo, 1999. "Gender Bias in China, South Korea and India 1920–1990: Effects of War, Famine and Fertility Decline," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 30(3), pages 619-652, July.
    5. Devries, Karen & Watts, Charlotte & Yoshihama, Mieko & Kiss, Ligia & Schraiber, Lilia Blima & Deyessa, Negussie & Heise, Lori & Durand, Julia & Mbwambo, Jessie & Jansen, Henrica & Berhane, Yemane & El, 2011. "Violence against women is strongly associated with suicide attempts: Evidence from the WHO multi-country study on women's health and domestic violence against women," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 79-86, July.
    6. Turner, Heather A. & Finkelhor, David & Ormrod, Richard, 2006. "The effect of lifetime victimization on the mental health of children and adolescents," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(1), pages 13-27, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lídia Farré, 2013. "The Role of Men in the Economic and Social Development of Women: Implications for Gender Equality," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 28(1), pages 22-51, February.
    2. Das Gupta,Monica, 2015. "?Missing girls? in the south Caucasus countries : trends, possible causes, and policy options," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7236, The World Bank.
    3. Nishith Prakash & Krishna Chaitanya Vadlamannati, 2019. "Girls for Sale? Child Sex Ratio and Girl Trafficking in India," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(4), pages 267-308, October.
    4. Silvia Helena Barcellos & Leandro S. Carvalho & Adriana Lleras-Muney, 2014. "Child Gender and Parental Investments in India: Are Boys and Girls Treated Differently?," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 6(1), pages 157-189, January.
    5. Smriti Rao & Kade Finnoff, 2015. "Marriage Migration and Inequality in India, 1983–2008," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 41(3), pages 485-505, September.
    6. Das Gupta, Monica & Ebenstein, Avraham & Sharygin, Ethan Jennings, 2010. "China's marriage market and upcoming challenges for elderly men," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5351, The World Bank.
    7. Adriana D. Kugler & Santosh Kumar, 2017. "Preference for Boys, Family Size, and Educational Attainment in India," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(3), pages 835-859, June.
    8. Go, Vivian F. & Srikrishnan, Aylur K. & Salter, Megan L. & Mehta, Shruti & Johnson, Sethulakshmi C. & Sivaram, Sudha & Davis, Wendy & Solomon, Suniti & Celentano, David D., 2010. "Factors associated with the perpetration of sexual violence among wine-shop patrons in Chennai, India," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(7), pages 1277-1284, October.
    9. Yolanda Mejías-Martín & Celia Martí-García & Yolanda Rodríguez-Mejías & Ana Alejandra Esteban-Burgos & Víctor Cruz-García & María Paz García-Caro, 2023. "Understanding for Prevention: Qualitative and Quantitative Analyses of Suicide Notes and Forensic Reports," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-16, January.
    10. Wong, William Chi Wai & Chen, Wei Qing & Goggins, William B. & Tang, Catherine S. & Leung, Phil W., 2009. "Individual, familial and community determinants of child physical abuse among high-school students in China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(10), pages 1819-1825, May.
    11. Giyeon Seo & Tanya Koropeckyj‐Cox & Sanghag Kim, 2022. "Correlates of Contemporary Gender Preference for Children in South Korea," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 48(1), pages 161-188, March.
    12. Woojin Chung & Monica Das Gupta, 2007. "The Decline of Son Preference in South Korea: The Roles of Development and Public Policy," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 33(4), pages 757-783, December.
    13. Gaurav Datt & Cun Liu & Russell Smyth, 2022. "Missing Women in China and India over Seven Decades: An Analysis of Birth and Mortality Data from 1950 to 2020," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(9), pages 1807-1830, September.
    14. Pakrashi, Debayan & Saha, Sarani, 2020. "Intergenerational consequences of maternal domestic violence: Effect on nutritional status of children," GLO Discussion Paper Series 551, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    15. Ruchira Tabassum Naved & Mahfuz Al Mamun & Kausar Parvin & Samantha Willan & Andrew Gibbs & Marat Yu & Rachel Jewkes, 2018. "Magnitude and correlates of intimate partner violence against female garment workers from selected factories in Bangladesh," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(11), pages 1-22, November.
    16. Leena Mary Eapen, 2020. "Son Preference in India: Is it a Cultural Bequest?," Working papers 373, Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode.
    17. Victoria Menil, 2015. "Missed Opportunities in Global Health: Identifying New Strategies to Improve Mental Health in LMICs," Working Papers id:7987, eSocialSciences.
    18. Astghik Mavisakalyan & Anna Minasyan, 2023. "The Role of Conflict in Sex Discrimination: The Case of Missing Girls," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 71(2), pages 443-484.
    19. Scott South & Katherine Trent & Sunita Bose, 2014. "Skewed Sex Ratios and Criminal Victimization in India," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(3), pages 1019-1040, June.
    20. Gault-Sherman, Martha & Silver, Eric & Sigfúsdóttir, Inga Dóra, 2009. "Gender and the associated impairments of childhood sexual abuse: A national study of Icelandic youth," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(10), pages 1515-1522, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:119:y:2020:i:c:s0190740920320296. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.