Barriers to Disclosure of Intimate Partner Violence among Female Patients Availing Services at Tertiary Care Psychiatric Hospitals: A Qualitative Study

BACKGROUND: Intimate partner violence (IPV)/domestic violence is one of the significant public health problems, but little is known about the barriers to disclosure in tertiary care psychiatric settings. METHODOLOGY: One hundred women seeking inpatient or outpatient services at a tertiary care psychiatric setting were recruited for study using purposive sampling. A semi-structured interview was administered to collect the information from women with mental illness experiencing IPV to know about their help-seeking behaviors, reasons for disclosure/nondisclosure of IPV, perceived feelings experienced after reporting IPV, and help received from the mental health professionals (MHPs) following the disclosure of violence. RESULTS: The data revealed that at the patient level, majority of the women chose to conceal their abuse from the mental health-care professionals, fearing retaliation from their partners if they get to know about the disclosure of violence. At the professional level, lack of privacy was another important barrier for nondisclosure where women reported that MHPs discussed the abuse in the presence of their violent partners. CONCLUSION: The findings of the study brought out the need for mandatory screening of violence and designing tailor-made multicomponent interventions for mental health care professionals at psychiatric setting in India.