Several studies and anecdotal evidence go to show that domestic violence takes a serious toll on mental and physical health of women.

Pooja Chauhan's is perhaps a classic example of what domestic violence could do to your health. When the housewife from Rajkot, Gujarat in western India, in her early twenties, decided to walk almost naked on the streets protesting the government's indifference to her complaint against her husband's family, she hit the headlines.

Some hailed it as a courageous move; others called it her key to the hall of fifteen minutes fame. Pooja was largely called mad. Still the incident helped throw focus on the mental health of the women who suffered from domestic violence.

In fact studies conducted by several organizations have found that victims of domestic violence are also more likely than others to suffer from chronic health conditions and participate in risky behaviors.

The first-ever World Health Organization (WHO) study on domestic violence, conducted in 2005, revealed that intimate partner violence was the most common form of violence in women's lives - much more so than assault or rape by strangers or acquaintances.

The study reported on the enormous toll physical and sexual violence by husbands and partners had on the health and well being of women around the world and the extent to which partner violence was largely hidden.

Agrees Dr Shalini, Chennai based psychiatrist in southern India: 'At least physical violence is noticed and people sympathise with the victim. But when the woman is mentally affected, it goes unnoticed. Only when things get serious, like in the case of Pooja Chauhan, some attention is paid to her.'

Shalini says several women coming to her for counseling have suffered from partner neglect. 'They feel they are treated as objects and this leads to depression and sometimes more serious problems.'

One quarter to one half of all women who had been physically assaulted by their partners said that they had suffered physical injuries as a direct result. The abused women were also twice as likely as non-abused women to have poor health and physical and mental problems, even if the violence occurred years before. This includes suicidal thoughts and attempts, mental distress, and physical symptoms like pain, dizziness and vaginal discharge.

Domestic violence is known to affect women's sexual and reproductive health and may contribute to increased risk of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. In the WHO study, women who were in physically or sexually abusive relationships were more likely to report that their partner had multiple sexual partners and had refused to use a condom than women in non violent relationships. Women who reported physical or sexual violence by a partner were also more likely to report having had at least one induced abortion or miscarriage than those who did not report violence.

Says B Usha, a women's rights activist: 'In all my visits to districts, I have found women subjected to sexual violence suffering from problems like miscarriage. This would also have a lasting impact on their mental health.”