KARACHI:
In Pakistan, a large number of women — if not majority — are subjected to domestic violence. This violence can be physical, verbal or psychological. Whether or not the violence takes place behind closed doors, it does inherently impact children in most cases. Having been exposed to violence from a young age, children may become overly anxious or fearful and have difficulty falling asleep, show signs of terror by hiding or stuttering, and have severe separation anxiety. These symptoms affect their overall functioning reducing their cognitive abilities.
At times, children of school-going age may feel guilty about the abuse and blame themselves for it. It harms their self-esteem. It has been seen that such children go into isolation. They detach themselves from others, do not participate in school activities and get in trouble. Also, there is an increased risk amongst teenagers of engaging in risky behaviours themselves. Teenagers are more likely to respond to different situations with violence and become less empathetic. Most children carry these behaviours into their adulthood and engage in abusive behaviours with their partners well. There are few cases in which people try to dissociate from their pasts and engage kindly or gently with their families.
Due to the absence of widespread awareness and a lack of education, most parents do not realise the negative effect domestic violence or abuse can have on their children. In Pakistan, people are generally unaware of therapy and counselling, which is why domestic violence and other social issues are running rampant in the country. Instead of blaming parents for not inculcating good values in their children, parents should be offered counselling services to navigate their experiences of violence/abuse. Also, children that have been exposed to violence must be encouraged to seek therapy as it can help them overcome distress and other negative feelings.
Marai Khushk
Hyderabad
Published in The Express Tribune, March 12th, 2022.
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