How does intimate partner violence affect women's health in India?

Intimate partner violence leads to various health issues, including PTSD, depression, chronic pain, and reproductive problems, often going unrecognized in healthcare settings.

Why do doctors struggle to identify domestic violence as a health issue?

Medical training often lacks focus on gender and violence, leading doctors to treat symptoms rather than the underlying cause of distress and illness.

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Beyond Injury: How Violence Silently Harms Women's Health

Q: What is the global health burden of intimate partner violence?

Globally, intimate partner violence costs women 1.85 crore disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) annually due to premature death and illness.

19 Dec, 2025

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Summary

Intimate partner violence is a major health risk in South Asia.
Violence causes years of lost healthy life (DALYs) globally.
Medical training often overlooks violence as a health cause.

Beyond Injury: How Violence Silently Harms Women's Health

Intimate partner violence is a major public health crisis, especially in South Asia, contributing significantly to women's ill health and disability. The Lancet analysis estimates that this violence costs women 1.85 crore disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) globally each year, encompassing years lost to premature death and disability from conditions like PTSD, chronic pain, and reproductive issues. In South Asia, it's a greater health risk factor than obesity or smoking for women of reproductive age.

The health system frequently fails to recognize violence as a root cause of non-specific symptoms. Women like Meera present with exhaustion, panic attacks, and insomnia for years, receiving treatment for individual symptoms rather than the underlying trauma. Medical training gaps mean doctors often lack the skills to identify and safely address domestic violence, viewing it as a social issue rather than a critical health determinant.