The recent massive rise in the number of COVID-19 cases worldwide has forced the state governments to reinforce stringent measures to control the widespread of the disease. One of the significant measures for the control of COVID-19 is a lockdown. The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown to alleviate the spread of the pandemic have led to social alienation, a weakened social support structure, and a vast rise in domestic violence cases against women. The establishment of lockdown increases the ability to isolate individuals from family and friends, track their activities, and limit financial resources, job opportunities, education, and medical care. These behaviours frequently have long-term consequences for people and can directly impact their mental health and well-being. Strong gender norms and agencies, like patriarchy, keep women shut behind closed doors with little support from male family members. Lockdown, along with physical and social distancing has limited women’s mobility and interaction with their families and friends, which may provide some support and protection from violence.
Domestic violence is a term used in many countries to refer to violence between intimate partners, but it often includes child and elder abuse and abuse by any household member. According to the World Health Organization, one out of every three women experiences physical and sexual abuse their lives, and at least 30% of all women in a relationship are subjected to physical and sexual violence from their partners. According to the National Crime Research Bureau’s (NCRB) Crime in India Report 2018, a crime against women occurs every 1.7 minutes in India, and a woman is subjected to domestic abuse every 4.4 minutes. According to the [National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4)](https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/resource/national-family-health-survey-nfhs-4-2015-16-india/#:~:text=The%20NFHS%2D4%20(2015%2D,%2D99%20and%202005%2D06.), from 2015-16, 30% of Indian women aged 15 to 49 have witnessed physical abuse. According to the survey, an overwhelming 83% of married women who have experienced physical, mental, or sexual abuse blame their husbands as they are the primary perpetrators, which is followed by abuse from their husbands’ mothers (56%), fathers (33%), as well as their siblings (27%). The persistence of orthodox social norms and the stigma imposed on victims of sexual or domestic abuse are the primary causes of most violence, resulting in grossly underreported cases. Women often feel uncomfortable contacting the police because they fear that if their partners are arrested, they will be subjected to more violence once they are released and that their in-laws or others will harass them in the meantime. Existing social norms also support the human-made idea of the inferiority of women to a certain extent.
Domestic violence has increased globally due to mandatory stay-at-home rules, physical separation, economic uncertainty, and anxieties induced by the pandemic. Domestic abuse and violence from romantic partners has risen in countries such as China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Brazil, France, Australia, and others. India, a nation notorious for gender-based violence (and, according to public opinion, the fourth-worst country for gender equality), sees similar patterns. We know that women are subjected to more significant risks during emergencies, including health disasters such as pandemics. During the Ebola virus epidemic, it was discovered that women were more likely to become infected because they served as primary caregivers in their homes and as frontline healthcare staff. Whenever reproductive and health care resources are diverted to the emergency response, women will be affected badly. The maternal mortality rate increased during this time due to a lack of access to healthcare and financial resources for the travel to hospitals for necessary check-ups during the COVID-19 pandemic; many women are working as health care providers at the front lines. During periods of economic distress, we also know that violent, abusive, impulsive, compulsive, and controlling behaviour and aggression directed at cohabiting and intimate partners increases. Women face various difficulties throughout their lives, including the negative impact of unemployment, lost jobs, and economic deprivation on marital conflict, parenting efficiency, and children’s well-being. Millions of women in India and elsewhere work in low-wage, low-skilled jobs. Women in the unorganised sector, such as beedi workers in India, farmworkers in the United States, domestic workers worldwide, fisherwomen, and sex workers, are often the most marginalised. They will be the first to lose their jobs, both immediately and for the rest of the time it takes for the economy to recover. Due to conventional gender roles, women take longer to return to work after a disaster, according to studies.
The sudden announcement of lockdown results in the rise of several disparities within the family like couples starting to work from home, absence of caretakers for children, immediate closure of schools, nurseries, and after-school hobby centres. These immediate adjustments from the usual routines are not favourable for everyone. When family members are sick, and in isolation, women are likely to play the role of caregiver. People have experienced anxiety due to the pandemic, which has resulted in panic, financial problems, uncertainty, job loss, and other behavioural and psychological manifestations such as tension, altercations, fights, conflict, frustration, and abuse. Furthermore, the lockdown has intensified the pressure on women to cook, feed, do other chores, and care for family members at home. The closing of schools has increased this pressure and added to their tension since family members spend more time together than in the pre-pandemic routine, and families have to deal with the increased stress and possible economic or job losses. Girls aged 14 to 18 are already at risk: in India, 39.4% of girls aged 14 to 18 are out of school. School closures will affect their lives, and we must consider how many of these young women will return to school after the crisis has passed, and normal life has resumed. When a family is faced with a financial crisis, the nutritional needs of the women and girls in the household are often overlooked.
In the previous 12 months, approximately 243 million women and girls aged between 15–49 years were victims of sexual and/or physical abuse committed by their intimate partners around the world. Apart from cases reported to the media and other agencies, since the COVID-19 outbreak, a huge rise in domestic violence cases has been reported worldwide, especially in China, the United Kingdom, the United States, Brazil, France, and Australia. The number is likely to rise as a result of the pandemic, as crowded and restricted living conditions exacerbate security, health, and financial concerns. The United Nations and other international as well as several national organisations predict that it will continue to rise and have urged governments to take effective measures to protect women’s health and human rights. Many governments have also begun to take steps in this direction by establishing helplines and counselling facilities. For assisting the victims of such abuses, countries have developed online counselling, web therapy, WhatsApp helplines, telephonic counselling services, and other services.
During the pandemic, women in abusive relationships and their children are more likely to be subjected to abuse. Being locked in a room with violent or deceptive people can result in increased threats, physical, sexual, and psychological abuse, embarrassment, intimidation, and controlling behaviour. Lockdown in many countries ensures that citizens have less access to the outside world than normal, limiting their ability to obtain assistance. Those who are forced to live inside their homes against their will due to lockdown are more likely to become victims of domestic abuse and respond in unusual ways in such a situation. Data on domestic abuse during the pandemic is still sparse, and we don’t know what the true number of such cases is. When compared to the non-pandemic era, agencies and NGOs have reported receiving more calls.
Like men, women too are in distress and looking for a way to articulate their fears, emotions, and apprehensions. Both men and women are victims of domestic abuse. In such a scenario, the recorded cases portray women as the weaker group, vulnerable to domestic violence, where men are the perpetrators and women are the victims. It also raises concerns about gender inequality in domestic violence reporting from a feminist viewpoint, which marginalises men’s problems. While, in the absence of population-based estimates prior to and following COVID-19 lockdowns, existing reports are invaluable alternatives, suggesting a global uptick in violence re-victimisation, but it would be premature to extrapolate or attribute such recorded cases solely to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Apart from documented incidents of domestic violence and its negative effects on individuals and communities, it would be useful to investigate the benefits of working together and spending time with family members; parents started spending more time with their children, listening to them and expressing their fears, anxieties, and concerns, which helps to reinforce family bonding and attachment. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, women performed three times the amount of unpaid domestic care work as men. Women will now have to juggle one or more of the following: jobs, childcare, homeschooling, elder care, housework, and caring for any sick family members. We need to promote equal domestic work-sharing so that women and girls can relax and not feel overburdened.
Domestic abuse must be prioritised as governments begin putting together policies to respond to crises like COVID-19. Otherwise, it will eventually increase the maternal mortality rate and insecurity of women and girl children. We need a strong national campaign to raise awareness about domestic abuse and to highlight the different ways that complaints can be lodged. National news channels, radio channels, and social media platforms must be strategically used to alleviate domestic violence against women and girl child, similar to the way in which the government has deployed campaigns advocating for physical distancing and hand washing to combat COVID-19.
Helplines for domestic abuse victims:
Central Social Welfare Board -Police Helpline-1091/ 1291, (011) 23317004
National Commison For Women (NCW)-011-26942369, 26944754
National Human Right Commision- 011-23385368 9810298900
-Meega Reji B’19
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