Depression, anxiety, stress and suicidal ideas in adolescent victims of human trafficking and sexual abuse in a sheltered home at Ranchi, India

Pages: 687-690
Aparna Rani (Ranchi Institute of Neuropsychiatry and Allied Sciences, Kanke, Ranchi, Jharkhand)
Manglesh Kumar Manglam (Department of Psychology, Central University of South Bihar, Patna, Bihar)

Children particularly girls are trafficked for their value in commercial sex work. Even otherwise they are often the victims of sexual abuse when they are trafficked for other purposes. Data pertaining to such issues are sparse and tenuous to collect. Moreover limited research exists on the psychological consequences of the double impact of human trafficking and sexual abuse. The present study aims to explore the severity of stress, anxiety, depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation in a group of adolescent girls with past history of sexual abuse, living in a sheltered home for victims of human trafficking. Thirty-nine consenting participants from the abovementioned site were interviewed to gather socio-demographic information, details on sexual abuse, and then evaluated on a self-administered Depression Anxiety Stress Scales, and finally a researcher administered Scale for Suicidal Ideation. Girls between 10 to 17 years, all illiterate hailing from rural background and mostly belonging to lower caste Muslim background reported of multiple occasions of sexual abuse (mostly rape) by perpetrators unknown to them. The participants reported of considerable negative psychological state at the time of evaluation (severe or more levels of depression and anxiety and moderate levels of stress). Stress symptoms correlated positively with suicidal ideation. The study is indicative of high magnitude of psychological suffering in this population which rehabilitation services should be considerate of.