Volume 10 Issue 10 October, 2020
READY OR NOT ….. HERE THEY COME!
Violence against women is a prominent public evil, which has been dissected and discussed in social forums over and over again. It has however, enjoyed devious cultural backing at all times. And the legal implications of violent indulgences against women don’t seem to have set an effective precedent to prevent future similar events. Rape in all its brutality surfaced yet again a few weeks back. The nation–wide shock waves that it sent will serve as a reminder to us mental health professionals that there exists a deep crevice between the assumed effectiveness of our services in identifying, preventing, and responding to offenders and the stark reality.
The most common forms of offences are domestic abuse and sexual violence, and victimisation in these cases is associated with a heightened risk of mental illness including suicide. There al issue lies in the dearth of research on how to improve identification and treatment of victims and perpetrators, especially considering mental health services could play a major role in primary and secondary prevention of violence against women.
Sex offenders need to be profiled. Offenders may include those with poor social cognition deficits or those lacking inhibitory control. But it is those with psychopathic traits and high degree of callousness who indulge in predatory aggression and are involved in the deadliest of crimes. Of clinical interest are some of the explanations that have been put forth. The amygdalar under-arousal in their fear circuitry would mean that they forfeit law and rules with knowledge of the same but with no fear of violating them. A sense of entitlement with the constant need to suppress envy for things unattainable leads them to think-If the sex object is sufficiently damaged, she was not worth having in the first place. Deception by tricking un suspecting victims and coercion feeds their sense of grandiosity. Identification of sexual offenders can help in revamping of the criminal justice system into looking for modifiable and unmodifiable traits and planning further course of action by liasoning with mental health professionals.
Women empowerment needs multi modal strategies. Mental health professionals can support the well being of the victim by helping to rewrite the narratives of shame into narratives of power and by helping to resolve emotions and re-processing the traumatic events in a conducive controlled manner. Social awareness and indoctrination of value system through community participation by psychiatric social workers. These measures can bring a sea of change that is much needed.
Senior Resident, Dept. of Psychiatry, St. John’s Medical College, Bangalore
Senior Resident, Dept. of Psychiatry, Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, Bangalore
