Mental Health Struggles in South Asian Women

Imagine a mother who has just given birth. She immediately gets back to household work, to feeding the baby, and taking care of her husband and his family. She barely leaves the kitchen and almost never the house, but one day she goes to see her mother for help. She feels overwhelmed, trapped, and helpless, but her mother says, “Just endure it. This is normal.” This is the reality for many women in South Asia. While more developed cities may have different conditions, women in rural areas still suffer. 

What Do the Statistics Say?

While stigma around mental health is slowly decreasing in the West, South Asian women are still highly deprived of this essential care. 1 in 3 women worldwide are subjected to physical and/or sexual violence, whether it’s by an intimate partner or a non-partner, and South Asia is a region with one of the highest prevalences of intimate partner violence (IPV) at 31% [1]. This statistic has been constant over the last 20 years, indicating there has not been a significant decline in violence against women and girls [2]. It’s also important to keep in mind that many cases go unreported because of the stigma around violence against women, so 32% is likely an underrepresentation of the reality.

Why Does This Happen to South Asian Women?

A system deep-rooted in patriarchy, and made worse by colonialism, has caused women to lose autonomy over almost every part of their lives. It is as if they are present merely to give birth and entertain men. A majority of women in South Asia are subjected to abuse in their lives, ranging from comments on the streets to physical and sexual abuse in their own homes. It is even seen as taboo to talk about this abuse because the male behavior is exceedingly normalized. This normalization has found itself in Facebook and WhatsApp groups in Sri Lanka where men are trading non-consensual intimate images of women, including their mothers and sisters– a long-standing practice that has only recently drawn public attention.

Oftentimes, though decreasing in recent years, a woman must leave her family to live in her husband’s family home where more than one generation may live. She must leave the support system she has grown accustomed to and conform to the ways of this new family. There are times when this relationship between her and this new family is good, benefiting her mental health in all the events to come such as childbirth, parenting, and more. However, it is also true that some women encounter bad relationships with their in-laws, causing extreme distress during events that can already be distressing [3]. 

In addition to these adversities is a severely underdeveloped mental health service system in which many professionals still carry gender bias. They often dismiss women, telling them they are overreacting or are only emotional because of their menstrual cycle. The mental health system is based on the same abusively patriarchal ideals that are causing these women to need help in the first place; it is impossible for such a system not to fail these women. Research lags behind as well, with many studies around the world excluding South Asians in their samples, which only encourages the problematic systems to keep ignoring these issues.

What Can We Do?

Art by Shea Davis

Mental health struggles vary across cultures, from how they present to why they may present, due to differences in social settings. This is why it is crucial that South Asian women be included in research studies. Studies based on Western populations simply cannot be generalized to a completely different social system where community is emphasized to a much higher degree. This inclusion will not only help improve treatments and interventions offered, but also create a culture of normalization surrounding the discussion of abuse and struggles with mental health. 

If this fatigue, silence, and distress feel familiar to you, know that you’re allowed to tell a doctor or a mental health professional that something feels like more than tiredness. You have every right to ask for help and be taken seriously. If you’re worried about a friend, a sister, or your mother, what you can offer is attention. Instead of giving advice or rushing to explain, you can simply listen to them. None of this undoes a system that still doesn’t fully see South Asian women’s mental health– systemic change is slow-moving, but together as a community, we can bring justice to these women by not letting their struggles go unnamed in their homes, schools, and streets. 

References:

1. World Health Organization. Violence against women prevalence estimates, 2023: global, regional and national prevalence estimates for intimate partner violence against women and non-partner sexual violence against women. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2025.

2. World Health Organization. Violence against women [Internet]. Geneva: World Health Organization; [cited 2026 Oct 3]. Available from: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/violence-against-women

3. Allendorf K. Like her own: ideals and experiences of the mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationship. J Fam Issues. 2006;55(5):588–600.