ALCOHOL abuse, drug addictions and pathological disorders are all factors that can lead to domestic violence between family members and spouses, accordingly to neurological doctors in Yangon.

Doctors believe behavioural patterns and poor living standards may also breed the frustration and contempt that often lead to abusive behaviour.

Dr Zaw Sein Lwin, a neurological specialist with Yangon General Hospital, said there are a number of factors that could push someone to behave violently towards their loved ones.

“A major contributing factor to domestic violence is excessive use of drugs and alcohol, which can cause a person to be severely deluded and reckless, which can in turn lead men to act violently towards their wives,” he said.

Ei Ei (all women’s names have been changed), a 22-year-old street vendor, said her ex-husband, an alcoholic, was cruel and abusive towards her.

“I got married when I was a teenager and my marriage was no good. We are divorced now and even though we have three children I couldn’t stand it anymore,” she said.

Ei Ei said her husband is an alcoholic and while they were married he beat her regularly. Then when her husband married another woman, she knew she had to leave.

“My father was also a bad man and the whole family was afraid of him, especially my mother. But I still expected to have a happy marriage, but it didn’t happen and my marriage was terrible,” she said.

According to Dr Zaw Sein Lwin, neurological changes in a person that may be brought on by stress as well as substance abuse can also result in extreme paranoia and delusion.

This often results in myopic jealousy or the ‘Othello syndrome’ that leads partners to suspect each other of infidelity.

Ma Myat was married at 28 and is now in her 40s. She still resents her ex-husband, who she said is a womaniser.

“My husband was not a drunkard but I always suspected him of sleeping with other women. I hated him so much when we were married that I beat him all the time. Now he is remarried but I never want to marry again,” she said.

“I am just glad that we didn’t have any children together.”

But Ma Myat’s friend Ma Khin did have children to her abusive husband and she stayed married for their sake. Now she is afraid her children will copy their father’s behaviour.

“My husband was a heavy drinker and he was always abusive to me. I still have the scars around my head to prove it. Now he is dead as a result of all his drinking, and I am worried that my 17-year-old son will behave like his father when he marries,” she said.

Dr Zaw Sein Lwin said there is no doubt that children can be physically and psychologically damaged by domestic violence and many grow up believing abusive behaviour is normal.

Some children will start exhibiting violent tendencies while others may become severely withdrawn from their surroundings.

“When children who have been abused or have witnessed abuse start making contact with society they will start to see that what they thought was normal is not,” Dr Zaw Sein Lwin said.

“This is very confusing for children who can then become socially awkward.

This may affect their performance at school and later in life when they enter the work force.”

Nandar, 19, lives at the Malika Training School for Girls, run by the Department of Social Welfare. Nandar is small for her age and appears to lack confidence.

“My father passed away when I was a little girl and I lived with my mother and my drunken stepfather. He beat my mother all the time and in the end my mother ran away and left me on the streets,” she said.

Nine-year-old Su also came to live at the Malika School after she was brutally beaten by her stepfather. Her mother fled leaving Su and her two sisters behind until a neighbour took them to the school.

Su said she sometimes gets angry with her mother because she believes her mother does not love her, but she is determined not to let it hold her back.

“My mother asked me to come home but I refused. I want to stand on my own two feet and when I grow up I want to work for the Department of Social Welfare,” she said.

There are many schools like the Malika School that take in children like Su and Nandar and provide them with an education, counselling and the chance to have a healthy childhood.

Dr Zaw Sein Lwin said the best thing for men and women who are being abused by their spouses is to go to a doctor who can refer them to a clinic.

“We only have a few trained psychologists in Myanmar but we are working on ways to help people while still respecting our culture,” he said.

“In Myanmar culture, a marriage is a bond that is supposed to last for eternity so we need to focus on ways to counsel couples so they can rectify the situation and move on with their lives.”