Mental disorders remain a serious cause for concern, highlighted as one of the highest burdens of disease globally. Post-COVID research indicates a rapid increase in this trend, as more than 1 billion individuals are currently living with some form of mental illness. A large proportion of this population comes from low and middle-income countries (LMICs), where factors such as stigma, limited resources, varied socioeconomic and cultural situations, and low-quality mental healthcare contribute to this dire situation. 

Pakistan is one such country where mental health resources remain dangerously limited, with less than 0.5 percent of the national health budget being allocated to mental healthcare, despite the development of a national mental health program. Furthermore, existing resources remain largely inaccessible to populations that are most vulnerable across the country.

 Amongst these populations, the women and girls of Pakistan are one such example, who remain burdened with struggles at the individual, familial, and societal levels that, in turn, negatively affect their mental health. This is exacerbated by factors such as stigma surrounding mental health, a lack of awareness, opposition from family or society, low-quality mental health services that fail to provide maintenance care in addition to support systems within the community, all of which often prevent women from seeking timely and appropriate mental healthcare. It is reported that around 1 in 4 women experience depressive or anxious symptoms during their lifetime, yet the current healthcare system struggles to meet the needs of affected individuals appropriately.

A major source of increased psychological distress amongst women is gender-based violence (GBV).  This can be described as all forms of physical, emotional, sexual, psychological, and even economic abuse that stems from patriarchal values, promotes gender inequity, and is perpetuated by........

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