Married Women In Pakistan Research Articles

SEXUAL DYSFUNCTION IN PAKISTANI MARRIED WOMEN WITH CURRENT EPISODE OF DEPRESSION AND BIPOLAR: A QUALITATIVE STUDY

The awareness of psychological disorders in the present times is increasing with the help of dynamic psychological assessment tools, advancing with progressive investigation methods. Current psychological literature significantly emphasizes on depression and bipolar disorders, their prevalence, assessment, and treatment protocols among the married individuals. Despite the increasing prevalence of depression among women, scholarly literature scarcely addresses on the impacts of sexual dysfunction on the married women in Pakistan, experiencing depression and associated bipolar disorder. The aim of this research was to study the impact of Sexual Dysfunction in Pakistani Married Women with Depression and Bipolar Disorder. A sample of 8 participants was selected with the help of purposive sampling. Each of these participants was diagnosed with depression and/or bipolar disorder and was undergoing therapy for the same. A semi-structured interview was conducted with each of these participants to deduce information about their disorders and sexual dysfunction. Thematic analysis was employed as the qualitative analysis technique for the evaluation of results gathered from interviews. The analysis revealed two main themes: Past experiences and current relationships. In the theme, experiences sub themes of parental relationships and childhood experiences were observed. Whereas in the theme Current Relationships, subthemes of the current marital relationship and current sexual relationship were observed. The themes and sub-themes revealed that married Pakistani women who are facing Depression and Bipolar Disorder, also go through sexual dysfunction.

Unspeakable and hidden: intimate partner sexual violence against married women in Pakistan

ABSTRACT Intimate partner sexual violence (IPSV) is a significant form of violence against women that remains largely under-researched in Pakistan, primarily due to sociocultural and religious factors. This study documents the nature and factors associated with IPSV against women in Pakistan by conducting qualitative in-depth interviews with Christian and Muslim women residing in both urban and rural areas of Punjab, Pakistan. A thematic approach was employed to analyse data gathered from seventeen participants. The findings revealed that the patriarchal nature of the society, privileged position of men within marriage, poverty and child marriages, consumption of alcohol and drugs, joint household system, legal ambiguities, and the absence of a supportive environment were contributory factors that increase the risk of sexual violence against women within intimate partnerships in the Pakistani context. It is crucial to acknowledge that sexual violence needs to be understood in the broader context of intimate partner and domestic violence. Additionally, there is a need for further research to explore the specific circumstances faced by women from diverse identity categories and to understand the multifaceted consequences of sexual violence on the physical and mental health of women.

Modern Contraception in Pakistan: A Cross-Sectional Study

Despite numerous family planning awareness campaigns, modern contraceptive prevalence remains low in Pakistan. This reality stimulates risky sexual behaviours and compromises reproductive rights. Our study has explored factors associated with modern contraceptive use among sexually active married women in Pakistan. This study used data from the 2017-2018 Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (PDHS). A total of 10,282 married women who were sexually active during the last 3 months prior to the survey were included in this study. The prevalence of modern contraceptive use among sexually active married women in Pakistan equals to 27.7%. Furthermore, the results indicate that age, region, education level, wealth index, fieldworker visit, and number of children were significantly associated with modern contraceptive use among sexually active married women in Pakistan. The group of sexually active married women in Pakistan is not homogeneous. In order to increase prevalence of modern contraception in this population, different groups of women should be targeted with family planning interventions specific to their needs.

The Impact of Marital Instability and Psychological Distress on Quality of Life among Married Women, Pakistan

The impact of marital instability and psychological distress on quality of life extends beyond the emotional realm. They can also affect other domains, such as physical health, social relationships, and overall life satisfaction. The motive of the study was to examine the effect of marital instability and psychological distress on quality of life among early and late married women in Pakistan. A cross-sectional research design was adopted. A purposive sampling design using a cross-sectional design was employed. A sample of 200 women, containing 100 early married women and 100 late married women, was taken from different divisions of Southern Punjab, Pakistan. A survey consisting of three key questionnaires, namely the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10), the WHO-Quality of Life Scale (BREF), and the Marital Instability Index (MII), was used for data collection. The findings evinced that marital instability has a positive and significant relationship with psychological distress among women with early and late marriages. Moreover, a higher level of marital instability and psychological distress with a low quality of life was found among early or late married women. Comparatively, women with early marriages have a higher level of marital instability and psychological distress and a lower level of quality of life as compared to women with late marriages. Overall, the study's findings recommended proactive interventions and policies aimed at improving the psychological well-being and quality of life of women in the region.

Using mixed models to examine the factors associated with intimate partner violence among married women in Pakistan

Currently, the rate of intimate partner violence (IPV) in Pakistan is 29%, which is likely an underestimate. This study used mixed models to examine the effects of women empowerment, women and husband's education, number of adult women in a household, number of children 5 or under in a household, and place of residence on physical violence and controlling behavior, controlling for women's current age and wealth status. Nationally representative data collected from 3,545 currently married women in the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (2012-2013) was used for the current study. Mixed models were estimated separately for physical violence and controlling behavior. Logistic regression was also used to conduct additional analyses. Results indicated that women and their husband's education, and number of adult women in a household were associated with a decrease in physical violence, whereas women's empowerment, and women and their husband's education were associated with a decrease in controlling behavior. The implications and limitations of the study are discussed.

Predictors of Modern Contraceptive Use Among Married Women in Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh

Background: Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India are all facing challenges related to large, growing populations with low levels of contraception. While, Bangladesh has the highest CPR (62%), close to the world’s CPR of 64%, India stands at 58%, followed by the lowest for Pakistan at 35%. Objective: To analyze the differences in the socio-economic determinants of modern contraception use in Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh. Methods: This study uses data from the latest rounds of Demographic and Health Surveys for Pakistan (2017-2018), Bangladesh (2017-2018), and India (2015-16) to examine the socioeconomic determinants of traditional, modern, and the most popular method of contraception among married women across the three countries by employing logistic regressions. The sample consists of currently married and fecund women only (Bangladesh=10,738; India=224,070; Pakistan=4,255). Results: In Bangladesh, Oral contraception Pills (OCPs) are the most popular method of contraception (44%), followed by the use of other modern contraception(38%) and traditional contraception(18%). In India, 60% of women using contraception, reported using female sterilization, 27% uses other forms of modern contraception, and 13% reported using traditional methods. For Pakistan, 29% of the women reported using condoms as a source of contraception, 43% of women reporting using other modern methods, and 29% of women reported using traditional methods of contraception. Logistic regressions in Bangladesh and Pakistan show that female educational attainment level is positively associated with the use of modern methods and the country’s most popular method of contraception but negatively associated with female sterilization, the most popular contraception method in India. Additionally, the socioeconomic status of the household is positively associated with the use of the most popular method of contraception in Pakistan but negatively associated with other modern methods. Contraception decision making if done by women in Bangladesh is positively associated with the use of both the most popular methods as well as modern methods of contraception. In India, the household's socioeconomic status and women’s age are positively associated with the use of modern contraception. Conclusion: For these countries to lower the population growth rate, achieve replacement-level fertility, and increase the use of modern contraception, they need to focus on relevant determinants that would help them achieve the desired results.

Trapped by the Lack of Control Over Savings: Evidence From Pakistan.

Gender discrimination and associated social norms are important contributing factors to the high frequency of women trapped in poverty – particularly in developing countries. Financial inclusion, especially access to formal saving services, has recently received much attention from the development community for its potential to lift women out of poverty and reduce inequality. To date, however, the impacts of social norms on women’s ability to use and benefit from such formal saving services are not widely understood. The purpose of this paper is to advance the understanding of this relationship, by investigating, in a setting where social norms put women at a disadvantage, the association between their decision-making power with respect to a newly opened formal savings account at a bank and the amount of savings kept in that account. We use data on 1,798 married women in Pakistan, from an intervention to encourage savings account uptake among them. Focusing on the usage, 8 months after the intervention, of 512 newly opened bank accounts, we find that women with at least joint control over the bank account save statistically significantly more in this account than women without any control. On average, this difference amounts to 2,339 PKR (22.40 USD), which is substantial considering that the majority of women in our sample are from lower-middle income class households and are rarely the household’s main income earners. This finding has important implications for future research, as well as for policy makers and practitioners providing financial services to women in gender unequal contexts.

Factors associated with female age at first marriage: An analysis using all waves of the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey.

In conventional Muslim societies, fertility occurs within the marital union. Therefore, fertility outcomes depend on females' age at first marriage (AFM). The present study explores the pattern of AFM in Pakistan, analyses of which are scarce in the literature. We aim to identify the factors associated with the AFM among currently married women in Pakistan. Demographic factors like birth cohort, and socioeconomic and cultural factors such as province and place of residence, education level, whether or not a woman had ever worked before marriage, ethnicity, and husband's education were studied to explore the pattern of female AFM. Data were taken from the Pakistan Demographic and Health Surveys (PDHSs) of 2012-13 and 2017-18, and a comparison was made with the findings from the earlier PDHSs of 1990-91 and 2006-07. The analysis concentrates on women born between 1941 and 1992, aged between 25 and 49 years during the data collection periods. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to assess the difference between the mean AFM for different sub-groups of the population. To identify the covariates that are associated with AFM multiple linear regression models were estimated. We observed a gradually increasing trend in female AFM over time among women born after 1950. The ANOVA results revealed that birth cohort, province, and place of residence, female education level, whether or not a woman had ever worked before marriage, ethnicity, and husband's education were significantly associated with AFM (p-values < 0.05). In a multiple regression model, we found that the birth cohort significantly affects the AFM (p-value < 0.05). Having worked before marriage is associated with a statistically significant one-year rise in the AFM. Interestingly, all other ethnic groups have lower AFM compared with women whose mother language was Punjabi. Education has a highly significant effect on the AFM: the regression results revealed that uneducated females have a mean AFM 4 to 5 years lower than highly educated women. The results also revealed that educated men marry older women as compared to uneducated men. We conclude that the education of females and even males in Pakistan could lead to a rise in the female AFM.

Psychometric properties of the revised Urdu version dyadic adjustment scale for evaluating marital relationship quality between madrassa and Non-Madrassa married women

PurposeThis study aims to explore the indigenous needs of married women in Pakistan due to the public health challenges they face due to marital conflict. The research focuses on investigating psychometric properties and cross-cultural validation of the revised dyadic adjustment scale’s (RDAS) Urdu translated version to assess marital relationship quality between married madrassa and non-madrassa women. The study examines empirically validated two-factor model (RDAS) between married madrassa and non-madrassa women (Busby et al., 1995; Hollist et al., 2012; Isanezhad et al., 2012; Christensen et al., 2006) and (Bayraktaroglu and Cakici, 2017). These studies approach including consensus, satisfaction and cohesion.Design/methodology/approachThe investigators executed the study into two phases: a pilot test and the main survey.FindingsThe pilot study's findings specified that the Urdu translated version of the revised DAS indicated a decent internal consistency (a = 0.70). The overall revised DAS maintained a stronger test-retest correlation and tested it over 15 days (r = 0.95). The main study recorded 300 respondents' responses from madrassa and non-madrassa married women using a purposive sampling approach and recruited them from the locality of various madrassas and housing societies of Islamabad, Azad Kashmir and Rawalpindi, Pakistan. The study findings showed higher intercorrelations between total and subscales of the revised DAS. It further compared the groups with a multi-group confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) method and examined the revised DAS structure in married madrassa and non-madrassa women.Practical implicationsThis study contributes to scientific knowledge and helps develop and validate indigenous cross-cultural instruments to examine marital life quality. It offers practical and reliable information about Pakistani couples' emotional attachment and marriage adjustment issues.Originality/valueThe study applied a three-factor solution, and it demonstrated a robust factorial validity in the context of Pakistani culture, which is a novel contribution to the literature.

Victimisation of Married Pakistani Women from Three Types of Aggression Perpetrated by their Mother-in-Law, and Mental Health Concomitants

The aim of the study was to investigate victimisation of married women from aggression perpetrated by the mothers-in-law, and its psychological concomitants. A questionnaire was completed by 569 married women in Pakistan. The mean age was 31.4 years (SD 9.1). Mothers-in-law perpetrated more verbal and indirect aggression than physical aggression against their daughters-in-law. Anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsive symptoms, and somatisation were all associated with aggression perpetrated by the mothers-in-law. The mothers-in-law had significantly more often than the husbands perpetrated indirect aggression against the daughters-in-law, while the husbands had perpetrated both physical and verbal aggression against their wife significantly more often than the mothers-in-laws. It was concluded that aggression perpetrated by mothers-in-law is a significant problem and associated with mental health problems in married Pakistani women.

Utilization of family planning methods among currently married women in Pakistan: Insight from Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2017–2018

In Pakistan, like other developing countries, utilization of family planning methods is a serious public health concern among married women. Researchers in the study focused on utilization of family planning methods among married women and their exposure to media messages. The researchers used retrospective analysis of secondary data of 3334 married women. Our research findings reveal that married women have a very limited access to media service messages promoting utilization of family planning methods. It is discussed that women with exposure to media messages about the utilization of family planning significantly utilized birth control behavior than women who had not heard and seen any media message. The authors concluded that married women in the country particularly in rural areas have a very limited access to media messages promoting family planning which causes non-utilization of family planning methods. It is recommended that different programs and awareness messages on media should be started to promote family planning and married women's access to media programs should be ensured.

Prevalence of physical, sexual and emotional violence among married women in Pakistan: A detailed analysis from Pakistan demographic health survey 2017-18

Background: Domestic violence is a significant public health concern all around the world. Globally around 10 out of 70 women faced domestic violence at least once in their life. However, there is a vast variation in the reported prevalence of domestic violence all around the world. Our study aims to explore the situation of domestic violence by using the Pakistan Demographic Health Survey (PDHS) dataset 2017-18.&#x0D; Methodology: Secondary data analysis was performed on 4085 married women of age 15-49 years by using a recently conducted PDHS data set to determine the prevalence, socio-demographic and economic factors that potentially increase the risk of different domestic violence types. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify the factors associated with domestic violence.&#x0D; Results: In this study, the overall prevalence of domestic violence in Pakistan is 34.2%. However, the prevalence of sexual violence 4.79% (3.75-6.09), emotional violence 28.91% (26.76-31.17), and physical violence was 14.84% (13.22-16.63) respectively in Pakistan. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reported the highest prevalence of sexual violence, 7.71%, followed by FATA 4.69%, Punjab 4.61%, Sindh 3.73%, and Balochistan 3.13%. Moreover, FATA has the highest prevalence of physical violence, 36.13%, followed by Balochistan, 33.5%, KPK, 22.5%, Punjab 13.28%, ICT 10.65%, and Sindh 7.68%. However, FATA also has the highest prevalence of emotional violence, 65.87%, followed by KPK 50.80%, Balochistan 48.37%, ICT 33.23%, Punjab 25.45%, and Sindh 15.1%.&#x0D; Conclusion: In our study, we found an association of low educational level of husband, poor wealth index, increase age of husband, and use of alcohol by the husband. Although policies are in place at the provincial level in Pakistan but there is no effective implementation of those policies at the provincial level. There is a need to study risk factors and societal perceptions regarding domestic violence across provinces to design and implement an effective intervention.&#x0D;

Socio-demographic determinants of unmet need for family planning among married women in Pakistan

BackgroundFamily planning is considered as an effective tool to control population and to bring improvement in maternal and child health. The Government of Pakistan has been continuously struggling to improve the availability of family planning services. However, like many other developing countries of the world, unmet need for family planning still exists in the country. According to Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2012–13, the prevalence of unmet need for family planning is 21% in the country. The objective of this study is to investigate the determinants of unmet need for family planning among married women in Pakistan.MethodsSecondary data of Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2012–13 has been used to analyze the determinants of unmet need for family planning through Binary and Multinomial Logistic regressions.ResultsOutcomes of the study show that the likelihood of unmet need for family planning among married women in Pakistan goes on to decrease with an increase in their age and education. The likelihood of unmet need for family planning decreases with the increase in wealth status of women’s household, number of living children and husband’s education. Similarly, the women residing in rural areas are more likely to have unmet need for family planning as compared with women living in urban areas. The women who lack mass media exposure, who are not employed and who have fear of side effects for using contraceptives are more likely to have unmet need for family planning.ConclusionsFear of side effects for using contraceptives has been identified as the major cause of unmet need for family planning in Pakistan. The Government of Pakistan has been putting a lot of efforts to convince people about the usefulness of population control programs. A huge media campaign has been launched to persuade people about the benefits of birth control. But the efforts of the government do not seem to be very much effective to clear the perception of people about side effects of contraceptive use. Hence, fear of side effects still remains one of the most important reason behind unmet need for family planning.

Association between consanguineous marriage and child nutritional outcomes among currently married women in Pakistan

IntroductionThis study examines the association between blood related marriage and children nutritional health outcomes among currently married women. MethodsUsing the cross-sectional third round of Pakistan Demographic Health Survey conducted among 11,763 currently married women in 2012–13. The methods of analyses included bi-variate and logistic regression models. ResultsNearly two-thirds of the CMW reported blood related marriage also known as consanguineous. Among consanguineous marriages (66% of the sample), 71% are in Sindh region followed by Baluchistan (70%) and Punjab (65%) in Pakistan and it ranges from 72 to 78% among the socioeconomically disadvantageous groups and in rural (71%) area. Multivariate results shows that the risk of child stunting (UOR = 1.52, CI = 1.31–1.67; AOR = 1.24, CI = 1.02–1.51) and child underweight (UOR = 1.59, CI = 1.34–1.89; AOR = 1.31, CI = 1.04–1.63) are higher among consanguineous marriage than non-consanguineous marriage. ConclusionThe findings suggest that there is a relationship between consanguineous marriage and under nutrition children including stunting and underweight, even after controlling for other background characteristics of the CMW. Child health interventions for CMW need to provide tailored information on consanguineous marriages related awareness and programme.

Intimate Partner Violence and its Association With Contraceptive Use Among Women in Pakistan

The aim of this study is to find the association between Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and contraceptive use among married women in Pakistan. The analysis was conducted by using cross sectional secondary data from every married women of reproductive age 15-49 years who responded to domestic violence module (N = 3687) of the 2012-13 Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey. The association between contraceptive use (outcome variable) and IPV was measured by calculating unadjusted odds ratios and adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals using simple binary logistic regression and multivariable binary logistic regression. The result showed that out of 3687 women, majority of women 2126 (57.7%) were using contraceptive in their marital relationship. Among total, 1154 (31.3%) women experienced emotional IPV, 1045 (28.3%) women experienced physical IPV and 1402 (38%) women experienced both physical and emotional IPV together respectively. All types of IPV was significantly associated with contraceptive use and women who reported emotional IPV (AOR 1.44; 95% CI 1.23, 1.67), physical IPV (AOR 1.41; 95% CI 1.20, 1.65) and both emotional and physical IPV together (AOR 1.49; 95% CI 1.24, 1.72) were more likely to use contraceptives respectively. The study revealed that women who were living in violent relationship were more likely to use contraceptive in Pakistan. Still there is a need for women reproductive health services and government should take initiatives to promote family planning services, awareness and access to contraceptive method options for women to reduce unintended or mistimed pregnancies that occurred in violent relationships.

Repression, Isolation and Paranoia: A Psychoanalytic Feminist Study of ‘The Nightmare’ by Rukhsana Ahmad

Generally, literature written by Pakistani women writers in English depicts women as victims of patriarchy, social and cultural oppression. Meanwhile, in recent times the short fiction is exploring new paradigms related to the psychological oppression of married women in Pakistan. The following paper selects the short story, ‘The Nightmare’ by Pakistani writer, Rukhsana Ahmad, where a housewife suffers from paranoia because of disconsolate marriage. Therefore, this research aims to study the causes of psychological disorders specifically paranoia among apparently happy housewives. Moreover, the causes and effects of repression and isolation on personality of women would be discussed from the psychoanalytic feminist perspective using the framework of Sigmund Freud (1973- 86) through the character of Fariha. Through the method of character analysis (Dobie, 2011) this paper concludes that the childhood experiences of repression are the reason for victim’s passiveness towards psychological oppression during adult life. This paper would also help in establishing the conclusion that women who suffer abuse in their childhood are more likely to face abuse in their adult lives, which becomes the cause of their psychological instability.

Prevalence of Emotional and Physical Intimate Partner Violence Among Married Women in Pakistan.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) affects millions of women across the world, and Pakistan is no exception. However, there is wide variance in reported frequencies worldwide and even within the same population. No standardized representative national and subnational estimates were available for IPV in Pakistan. We analyzed 3,666 ever-married women (15-49 years), from the most recent Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (PDHS; 2012-2013), to determine the prevalence of emotional and physical violence among women in Pakistan and its major subpopulations. The Conflicts Tactics Scale (CTS) was used to ascertain violence. Furthermore, we examined the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, which have the potential to increase the risk of emotional and physical violence. Weighted multivariate logistic regression was carried out to determine the association of IPV with the potential risk factors using Stata version 13.0. The prevalence of emotional and physical violence was, respectively, 36.4% (95% confidence interval [CI]: [33.8, 39.1]) and 18.4% (95% CI: [16.4, 20.6]) in Pakistan. The frequency of emotional and physical violence was highest in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK; 54.9% and 36.4%) followed by Balochistan (50.0% and 25.5%), Punjab (35.9% and 15.8%), and Sindh (24.7% and 13.3%) provinces. The prevalence of any form of violence (emotional or physical or both) was higher in rural than in urban areas (45.2% vs. 30.6%). Higher age of the husband and lower socioeconomic status were associated with emotional violence in KPK. Furthermore, alcohol intake by husbands and lower educational status of women or their husbands were associated with greater risk of emotional and physical violence across the provinces. IPV is high in Pakistan and large variations exist in the prevalence of violence across the provinces. The predictors of emotional and physical violence included occupation and education of the husband, alcohol intake, woman's occupation, and wealth index. Further studies are needed to explore the underlying factors of violence and reasons for variation across different regions in the country for contextual interventions.

Repression, Isolation, and Paranoia: A Psychoanalytic Feminist Study of ‘The Nightmare’ by Rukhsana Ahmad

Generally, literature written by Pakistani women writers in English depicts women as victims of patriarchy, social and cultural oppression. Meanwhile, in recent times the short fiction is exploring new paradigms related to the psychological oppression of married women in Pakistan. The following paper selects the short story, ‘The Nightmare’ by Pakistani writer, Rukhsana Ahmad, where a housewife suffers from paranoia because of disconsolate marriage. Therefore, this research aims to study the causes of psychological disorders specifically paranoia among apparently happy housewives. Moreover, the causes and effects of repression and isolation on personality of women would be discussed from the psychoanalytic feminist perspective using the framework of Sigmund Freud (1973- 86) through the character of Fariha. Through the method of character analysis (Dobie, 2011) this paper concludes that the childhood experiences of repression are the reason for victim’s passiveness towards psychological oppression during adult life. This paper would also help in establishing the conclusion that women who suffer abuse in their childhood are more likely to face abuse in their adult lives, which becomes the cause of their psychological instability.

CAUSES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST MARRIED WOMEN: A SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY WITH REFERENCE TO KARACHI CITY

The aim and objective of this study is to analyse the causes of domestic violence against married women in Pakistan providing a complete picture of understanding on the phenomenon. This study was conducted in Safoora Goth, Karachi one of the oldest residential centre of Karachi where all local ethnic groups and class of people are inhabited. The factors included in the study were various reasons of domestic violence, nature of domestic violence, types of domestic violence, separation, and feeling of deprivation, husband drug addiction, partner violence, family system, family economic, ages of women and all other such related causes regarding domestic violence. The universe of the study was Safoora Goth, Karachi. The calculated sample size was 313 respondents in which researcher selected simple random sampling technique. The tool for the data collection was a questionnaire. Hypotheses were tested statistically among 5 hypotheses all have gotten accepted and showed the result as there are various causes of domestic violence. Thus, the researcher concluded that family system, family income and husband drug addiction are related to the domestic violence in a great deal.

Repression, Isolation, and Paranoia: A Psychoanalytic Feminist Study of ‘The Nightmare’ by Rukhsana Ahmad

Generally, literature written by Pakistani women writers in English depicts women as victims of patriarchy, social and cultural oppression. Meanwhile, in recent times the short fiction is exploring new paradigms related to the psychological oppression of married women in Pakistan. The following paper selects the short story, ‘The Nightmare’ by Pakistani writer, Rukhsana Ahmad, where a housewife suffers from paranoia because of disconsolate marriage. Therefore, this research aims to study the causes of psychological disorders specifically paranoia among apparently happy housewives. Moreover, the causes and effects of repression and isolation on personality of women would be discussed from the psychoanalytic feminist perspective using the framework of Sigmund Freud (1973- 86) through the character of Fariha. Through the method of character analysis (Dobie, 2011) this paper concludes that the childhood experiences of repression are the reason for victim’s passiveness towards psychological oppression during adult life. This paper would also help in establishing the conclusion that women who suffer abuse in their childhood are more likely to face abuse in their adult lives, which becomes the cause of their psychological instability. Key Words: Short Fiction, Pakistani women, Paranoia, Housewives, isolation, unconscious, symbols, psychological abuse.