Domestic Violence and Mental Health: Correlates and Conundrums Within and Across Cultures

This review focuses on domestic gender-based violence towards women, and its effect on their mental health. Three main issues are put forth: domestic violence is a significant cause of physical morbidity & mortality for women in almost every culture; there is a direct association between domestic violence & psychiatric morbidity; and that historically the human rights community fails to recognize women’s human rights violations, often viewing them as “private matters.” (108 refs.)