New Delhi: Women who have experienced violence suffer more severe menopausal symptoms and may reach menopause up to 20 months earlier, compared to those without such a history, a study has found.
Findings published in the journal Maturitas show that an exposure to violence throughout life can have lasting effects in women that extend into middle age.
Researchers from the University of Grenada in Spain said scientific evidence consistently indicates that women who are victims of any form of violence experience more pronounced menopausal symptoms, including more intense and frequent hot flashes and night sweats, as well as a higher prevalence of anxiety, depression, insomnia and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Women exposed to trauma may reach this stage up to 20 months earlier than those without such a history, which increases the risk of premature ovarian failure, they said.
"Violence is consistently associated with more frequent and severe menopausal symptoms -- vasomotor, psychological (including anxiety, depression, and insomnia), and sexual (or) urogenital -- along with poorer postmenopausal quality of life across study designs," the authors wrote.
The team added that mechanisms behind the menopausal effects due to exposure to trauma include a dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and epigenetic changes caused by traumatic stress.
The factors contribute to a lower quality of life in postmenopausal women across the somatic, psychological and sexual domains, creating a "hidden burden" of morbidity, the researchers said.
They noted that "violence against women is a critical public health issue whose effects persist for decades after the assault" and emphasised the urgent need to implement a trauma-informed care model in clinics specialising in mid-life and menopause.
The measures involve ensuring privacy, carrying out a proactive screening for sexually transmitted infections and cervical cancer, and creating integrated care pathways linking gynaecology with mental health, internal medicine and pelvic floor physiotherapy, the authors said.
The team reviewed studies from databases including PubMed and Scopus published up to January 2026 without language restrictions.
