Koly Kamrun Nahar, Saba Jobaida, Mallick Trisha, Rashid Fahmida, Watson Juliet, Neves Barbara Barbosa
Health System & Population Studies Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr, b), Mohakhali, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Social Equity Research Centre, School of Global Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia.
PLOS Glob Public Health. 2025 May 9;5(5):e0004568. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0004568. eCollection 2025.
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a recognised global public health concern, substantially impacting women's well-being. While there is growing research on how IPV victim-survivors seek mental health support in the Global North, it remains understudied in the Global South, particularly for those residing in slums in low-income countries like Bangladesh. Through interviews and group discussions with different stakeholders, this study explored the mental healthcare-seeking behaviour of victim-survivors of IPV residing in urban slums, barriers to service utilisation, and recommendations to strengthen care pathways. Stakeholders perceived IPV as normalised in slums, indicating sociocultural norms and interpersonal causes as significant contributors to mental health issues and events of IPV. Seeking healthcare and moral support for IPV from local dispensaries and informal sources was common; however, IPV victim-survivors had no knowledge about mental-health-related services. Low mental health literacy and lack of financial support prevented them from seeking the necessary care. Social stigma regarding accessing mental healthcare, coupled with the absence of professional service providers and community-based services, represent critical systemic challenges. Recommendations included promoting community-level awareness of IPV and mental health issues, increasing mental healthcare services, training health workers, and fostering positive masculinities in community-based interventions. Stakeholders emphasised the need to adopt culturally relevant interventions for tackling IPV and improving mental healthcare pathways, especially for the low-income population of Bangladesh.
亲密伴侣暴力（IPV）是一个公认的全球公共卫生问题，对女性的幸福产生重大影响。虽然关于IPV受害者-幸存者在全球北方如何寻求心理健康支持的研究越来越多，但在全球南方，尤其是居住在孟加拉国等低收入国家贫民窟的人群中，这方面的研究仍然不足。通过与不同利益相关者进行访谈和小组讨论，本研究探讨了居住在城市贫民窟的IPV受害者-幸存者寻求心理医疗的行为、服务利用的障碍以及加强护理途径的建议。利益相关者认为IPV在贫民窟中已常态化，表明社会文化规范和人际因素是心理健康问题和IPV事件的重要促成因素。从当地诊所和非正式渠道寻求针对IPV的医疗保健和道德支持很常见；然而，IPV受害者-幸存者对与心理健康相关的服务并不了解。心理健康素养低和缺乏经济支持使他们无法寻求必要的护理。在获得心理医疗保健方面的社会耻辱感，再加上缺乏专业服务提供者和社区服务，是关键的系统性挑战。建议包括提高社区对IPV和心理健康问题的认识、增加心理医疗服务、培训卫生工作者以及在基于社区的干预措施中培养积极的男性气质。利益相关者强调，需要采取与文化相关的干预措施来应对IPV并改善心理医疗途径，特别是针对孟加拉国的低收入人群。
