Sexual Violence Victimization as a Cause of Females’ Mental Illnesses: The Case of ‘Zeyweghih Leiti’and‘Lelasew’

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to investigate how sexual violence victimization causes females’ mental illnesses in the case of two selected novels. The texts are purposefully selected based on four selection criteria. In making the analysis and discussion, the researcher employed the method of textual analysis by applying the bio-psycho-social-spiritual model as a theoretical framework. As a result, it was found that four female characters who experienced sexual violence in their adolescence were forced to develop different types of mental illnesses, like stress, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and schizophrenia. The findings imply that the novel as a long fictional work has the potential to represent the whole person, and this enables it to depict the causal factors of human beings’ life problems metaphorically.