Even witnessing intimate partner violence can be traumatic, resulting in toxic responses to stress that cause both immediate and long-term psychological damage and affect the mental health of children for life as the two are entwined, experts say.

According to a World Health Organisation report, children who witness or are victims of violence can show symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder similar to those exhibited by soldiers returning from war zones!

The symptoms of distress increase depending on the number of violent acts they have witnessed, the report adds.

In a recent study published in the journal BMC Women's Health, the researchers found that the incidences of cruelty by in-laws and spousal violence in India increased by 53% between 2001 and 2018.

Though much has been discussed about domestic violence among adults, little has been discussed on the effects of domestic violence among children.

Rajiv Agarwal, a senior psychologist at Mind Piper, a social sector enterprise working in the field of mental health in Delhi says that domestic violence even leaves an indelible mark on children who may not have been subjected to violence and aggression directly but were mere witnesses.

Stating that domestic violence is prevalent across the socio-economic classes he added, “More often than not, the exposure of children in lower economic social strata is often physical violence in nature while in higher-income groups, the violence is more verbal or subtle in nature.”

Relating an incident during a telephonic interview to Drug Today Medical Times recently, he narrated a case where the father of two children who used to humiliate his wife resulted in the older son of the couple assuming the role of acting as a protector of his mother, which in turn lead to the communication to become pathological.

Children from the most vulnerable group and incidences of domestic violence leave profound scars on their mental health, which not only lasts a lifetime but also spread across generations, says Dr C Anbu Durai, the HOD Psychiatry Dept. at Hindu Mission Hospital in Chennai.

Noting that humans inherit very few mental traits at birth, Prof Durai said that a child processes 60-70% of all information from what they see.

Both Agarwal and Prof Durai insist that children react to such situations very differently; “While some become timid and shy, others develop an attitude of ‘I couldn't care less’ prompting risky behavioural traits.”

What is more worrying is that children imitate the violence that they witness and take it out on other children who are vulnerable.

“These children become bullies in schools and it often turns into a habit,” Dr Durai said.

Domestic violence is one of the major reasons for the children running away from their homes and landing up in big cities, says Amarjit Singh of Railway Children, a non-profit working with street children in Delhi.

They want to prove to their families that they can make a good life themselves and domestic violence plays a 50% role in taking the decision of running away, he added.

One of the major things that we have observed is that they become very suspicious of everyone around them and consider them as bad,” he added.

Domestic violence also shapes the mental health of the children in such a way that very often they become offenders, Agarwal added.

Though there is no definitive data available on the subject, Agarwal said that a significant number of young offenders arrested under POSCO, had a history of violence against their mothers by their fathers, where they witnessed their father treating their mothers like an object, specifically in the case of sexual relationships.

This early pathological exposure had possibly distorted their understanding of gender relationships and their understanding of consent, he added.

However, no solution seems to be in sight currently, the experts say. While some developed countries have laws which allow the state to take away such children from the abusive domestic set-up and put them under foster care, such a solution is unlikely to work in India, they said.

“This solution is worse than the problem itself,” Dr Durai said.

“Even in the worst abusive home, there is still some personal care, while even in the institutions where there is no sexual or physical abuse, which is extremely rare, the sheer numbers ensure that they cannot be given individual attention. It is like putting them from frying pan to fire,” he added.

Citing the example of the United States, where the e foster home care is better established, Agarwal said that even though foster parents are given financial aid by the state, a child may have to switch five to 10 homes before they become adults.

“This is a double whammy for a child, first, because the child is already going through the trauma of getting separated from his or her biological parents, and secondly, s/he is aware that the foster house is getting financial aid and that is the main reason they have taken him/her as a ward, which has a significant maladaptive impact on the child’s mental health,” he added.

Until the structural and social issues are addressed with a holistic approach, the problem is going to turn more acute in the coming times, they said.