Living in a Protracted Conflict Area: Mental Health Burden of Women in Manipur, India

Abstract

There is an increase in mental health burden globally and this sharp rise is equally true for India. Such burden can double in areas that are affected by violence or protracted conflict. People residing in protracted conflict area face numerous challenges due to their intermittent exposure to traumatic events. Women are often the worst sufferers due to several reasons. Manipur, India has witnessed conflict since several decades and both developmental and humanitarian organizations categorize the nature of conflict in Manipur as protracted. The nature of the conflict in Manipur is complex due to involvement of several actors. This paper explores mental health burden of women living in protracted conflict area of Manipur, India. This quantitative study employs a cross-sectional interview-based survey to understand mental health burden on a randomly selected sample of 666 respondents, of whom, 359 were women (53.9%). The mental health burden was assessed through four dimensions namely affective, behavioural, cognitive, and physiological. The analysis explored mental health burden of women in comparison to men. While, there was no significant gender difference in exposure or experience of conflict, women reported significantly higher mental health burden as compared to men, both overall as well as on each dimension. This study validates the results of other studies that report higher mental health burden in conflict areas. There is higher prevalence of mental health burden among women living in a protracted conflict area.