Mental health counselling for abused women was closed. About 92% of the women rated efforts at maintaining privacy as good or very good. High appreciation of privacy maintained is illus- trated in the following quote from an in-depth in- terviewee: Interviewer: What did you appreciate most about going there, waiting, and talking? Informant: [I liked most] That we talked in a sepa-rate room. This is what I liked. I liked that there was nobody else with us. So, we talked in private. This was a discussion of private matters, and nobody heard it. [Shahana, age 24 years, grade 8, non-poor, victim of sexual violence] Interestingly, 52% of the women reported they were not being at all concerned about confidential- ity of the session. About 7% of the women were very much, 11% somewhat, and 26% moderately concerned about confidentiality. All of those who were concerned regarding confidentiality were afraid that the paramedics would tell others what was discussed. Qualitative data provide informa- tion on the types and sources of concerns regarding confidentiality. Thus, Julekha, who highly appre- ciated the session, shared her concerns regarding confidentiality. She said: I liked the session very much. … [After the ses- sion] my heart felt light. I felt that way because afa (paramedic in this instance) guaranteed that nobody else would get to know [my story]. If I ever get to understand or come to know that afa told my story to somebody else, I will feel ashamed and question myself for ever tell- ing her [my story]. The pain I already carry is enough for me. Why would I invite additional suffering? I am bearing all the pain for the sake of protecting my attoshomman (prestige). [Age 36 years, grade 12, non-poor, victim of severe physical and sexual violence] Choitali said: I was scared that there would be trouble in the family because of the disclosure. I thought about this and I was afraid. I used to argue with my- self, “How can afa harm me using the informa- tion she got from me?” There are people who can create kanjala (trouble) in a family by saying things. … I thought let me see what afa does. Now my child [who was born several months be- fore the session] is almost four and nothing [no breach of confidentiality] has happened yet. Now, I am afraid no more. [Age 30 years, no education, 484 Naved RT et al. poor, victim of physical and sexual violence] Boishakhi was apprehensive of marriage break- down if any information leaked. She said: I was a bit scared. ... What if people get to know [that she shared her story]? If so, my marriage would be ruined. ... I was troubled a lot. I was troubled to the full extent. Even four-five days after the session, I was still telling myself, “what if my husband gets to know? My life would be ruined.” I suffered so much! I suffered for about a week. ... At that time I could not share this with anyone else and I felt disturbed, totally dis- turbed. [Age 43 years, no education, non-poor, victim of physical and sexual violence] Evaluation of performance of paramedics as counsellors About 98% of the women reported that the para- medics conducted the session very well or well (Table 5). Everybody without exception reported that the paramedic treated her very well or well and listened to her attentively or very attentively. All the study participants held that behaviour of the paramedics was good enough and does not re- quire any improvement. Twenty-eight women interviewed in-depth were asked about the attitude and behaviour of the para- medics during the session. All of them appreciated the attitude and behaviour of the paramedics. Six- teen of them highly appreciated behaviour of the paramedics. For example, Parvin, a victim of severe physical and sexual violence, said: I was very satisfied (shontushto hoisi). Other counselling clients comment on various aspects of behaviour of the paramedics, such as tone, body-language, language, etc. She talked very nicely in a sweet voice. [Nazma, age 32 years, grade 8, non-poor, victim of sex- ual violence] She used a very bhodro bhasha (polished lan- guage), which I liked a lot. [Shelly, age 29 years, grade 5, non-poor, victim of physical violence] The way she (the paramedic) talked was satis- fying. You cannot attain any tripti (satisfaction) talking to many people. They would either talk angrily or say many improper things or would tuchchho (belittle) you. No, there was nothing like that in her (the paramedic’s) manners that could be disliked. … She always talks to me with a smiling face. [Shiuly, age 30 years, grade JHPN