Violence against women during COVID-19

Domestic violence usually begins when one partner feels the need to control and dominate the other. This need to control may arise due to low self-esteem, extreme jealousy or when one feels inferior to the other in terms of education and socio-economic background. It may also arise due to various strong emotions such as difficulties in regulating anger to name one (Toby D., What Causes Domestic Violence, Para 2).

Physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, isolation, verbal abuse, using male privilege, economic privilege and stalking are some types of abuse.

According to Vignesh Radhakrishnan, Sumant Sen, Naresh Singaravelu (The Hindu), violence against women and girls is a human rights violation. Since the outbreak of Covid 19, reports have shown all types of violence against women and girls, particularly the intensity of domestic violence.

In 2020, between March 25 and May 31, 1477 complaints of domestic violence were made by women. This 68 day period recorded more complaints than those received between March to May in the previous 10 years.

The number of complaints received in 2020 has been the highest in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.

86% of women who experience this haven't sought help while only 77% report. Among 14.3% of victims who sought help, only 7% reached out to relevant authorities but more than 90% of the victims sought help from their immediate families.

As many countries announced lockdowns in the wake of the COVID19 pandemic, the “home” was seen as a refuge. However, the increasing instances of domestic violence raises the question on this International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women – Is the home really a safe place for women? Globally, nearly 243 million women and girls between 15 to 49 years were subjected to sexual and/ or physical intimate partner violence in the last year (UN Women, 2020). A survey of 122 community organisations shows that 85% of them reported a rapid increase in violence against women and girls (VAW/G) between March – September 2020 (UN Trust Fund to End VAW, 2020). This alarming increase in domestic violence has even earned a moniker, “the shadow pandemic.”

The National Commission of Women (NCW) received 13,410 complaints of crimes against women between March – September 2020, of which 4,350 were domestic violence. Complaints peaked in the March-May period, with 1/3rd of complaints being filed in these 3 months alone. Ravindran and Shah (2020) estimated that in May 2020, the increase in domestic violence complaints in red zone districts was 131% higher than those in the green zone districts with fewer restrictions. Red zone districts also saw much higher increases in complaints of cybercrime. Only 14% of women who have ever experienced violence seek help, thus making it clear that figures of reported violence are only the tip of the iceberg.(Mitali Dikore , Times of India,2020)

The Ebola outbreaks (2014-20) demonstrated that various forms of violence are exacerbated in crisis contexts, including trafficking, child marriage and sexual exploitation and abuse. VAW/G can negatively impact female labour market participation, earnings, mental health, child health, and household consumption, with economic costs ranging from 1-4% of global GDP.

So far, only 48 out of 206 countries (including India) have treated VAW/G- related services as an integral part of their COVID-19 response plans (UN COVID19 Gender Response Tracker). Countries like Spain, Singapore, South Africa declared services to protect and assist victims of gender-based violence and their children an essential service. Free, discreet, round the clock, and scalable digital solutions are proving to be instrumental in mitigating domestic violence in this pandemic when physical and family support networks for survivors are compromised. WhatsApp / web-based hotlines, online support groups, and social media campaigns to change attitudes have been deployed across countries to tackle domestic violence, with some countries standing out for their best practices. The Czech Republic adopted the Bright Sky app and trained delivery personnel on how to recognise and react to signs of domestic violence (e.g. by asking closed questions). France started an innovative system, where women could report domestic violence at pharmacies using the codeword “mask19”. New Zealand announced a NZ$200 million budgetary allocation to fund domestic violence prevention and rehabilitation and started a $1 million fund for organisations combating domestic violence. In India, efforts have been made to ensure that existing government schemes such as One Stop Centres, Ujjawala Homes, and Emergency Response Support System remain operational. Notably, 33% of violence complaints were made via the NCW’s WhatApp based helpline launched in April 2020, suggesting that a discreet method of reporting was much needed during the pandemic. State government initiatives, such as Uttar Pradesh Police’s “Suppress corona, not your voice” campaign, Odisha Police’s Phone-Up programme, Kerala State Commission for Women’s tele-counselling facility, Maharashtra Government’s Akshara Centres, Special Cell for Women and Children, and the #LockdownOnDomesticViolence campaigns were important steps, signalling intolerance for domestic violence across governments.

In a country where every third woman faces some form of domestic violence, and 52% of women and 42% of men believe it is justified for a husband to hit his wife, there is a need for a long-term national strategy to combat VAW/G (Mitali Dikore, Times of India, 2020)

Now, where does this idea of abuse - let it be physical, mental or emotional come from? It may seem odd to think that cultural or traditional beliefs sometimes lead to the risk of domestic violence, but many cultures have deep-rooted beliefs that men are superior to women. Another important role is played by mental illness. Individuals who have been diagnosed with a mental illness such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia may go through times of highs and lows when they are unable to control their anger(Toby D., What Causes Domestic Violence, Para 3). These people may become aggressors and abuse others. While some other people may have learnt this behaviour from growing up in a household where domestic violence was accepted as a normal part of being raised in their family.

Coming to how COVID-19 has added to our problems. Now that the abuser has greater freedom while the victim's movement is restricted, domestic violence has seen a rise. Lockdown measures have led to the emergence of violent behaviour by increasing pandemic related stressors, forced proximity and by limiting access to protective resources (Ertan D., El-Hage W., Thierree S., and Hingray C. Increased Domestic Violence Injuries During COVID-19). Help has been curtailed due to lockdown. Courts open only for emergency hearings (Ratnam D., Domestic Violence During COVID-19- Lockdown Emerges as a Serious Trouble). Various NGOs and other organisations aren't able to reach the victims to provide on-site help due to the rising count in COVID-19 cases. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (PWDVA) 2005, is a legislation aimed at protecting women from violence in domestic relationships. The law is well written, wide-ranging and holistic. It covers, mental as well as physical abuse, and also threats to do the same. Any form of harassment or harm to health, safety, limb or well-being is covered. The following shows a few details that are covered by the law.

Physical abuse: Defined as act or conduct that is of such a nature as to cause bodily pain, harm, or danger to life, limb or health or impair the health or development of the aggrieved person. Physical abuse also includes assault, criminal intimidation and criminal force.

Sexual abuse: The legislation defines this as the conduct of “sexual nature” that ‘abuses, humiliates, degrades or otherwise violates the dignity of a woman.

Verbal and emotional abuse: Insults/ ridicule of any form, including those with regard to the inability to have a male child, as well as repeated threats.

Economic abuse: Categorized as including deprivation of financial resources required for survival of the victim and her children, the disposing of any assets which the victim has an interest/stake in and prohibition/restriction of financial resources which the victim is used to while in the domestic relationship.

However, the implementation of the law was flawed. In many districts, instead of employing Protection Officers, existing government officials were given this responsibility as well; and were not equipped to deal with the same. Therefore they did not fulfil most of the duties specified in the Act, and because of that victims are not able to make full use of the law for their benefit. Similarly, with regard to shelter homes, the Act specified that there should be as many as deemed enough. However, research into actual implementation (Feminism in India Media Pvt. Ltd.) has shown that many districts do not have even one shelter home.

SOLUTIONS

1. AGGRESSIVE CAMPAIGNING

Educating people through organizing campaigns is an efficient way to forth ideas and raise awareness. Social Media is one such powerful tool. In response to the news of domestic violence, many Indian celebrities encouraged “men to take a stand” and “women to break the silence”. More recently, NGO SNEHA with the help of several Bollywood actors/actresses took to Instagram to draw attention to the unheard voices of domestic violence victims. Such campaigns target perpetrators to make them feel ashamed or guilty. The hope is that this will prompt them to change their behaviour.

2. MASK 19

This is a code word used at pharmacies to escape domestic violence during the lockdown. Some women are unable or too afraid to call the police. If women cannot talk openly, they can simply walk into the store and use the codeword “mask 19”.

3. ONE-STOP CENTRES

These are centrally sponsored schemes of the Ministry of Women and Child Development. They provide integrated support and assistance under one roof to women affected by violence, both in private and public spaces. The aim is to provide the following services :

a. Emergency response and rescue services

b. Medical assistance

c. Legal aid and counselling

d. Shelter

4. INTERVENTION BY A COUNSELLOR

With simple access to a smartphone, women can download the SHEROES app. Women can attend regular live chat sessions with mental health counsellors. A counsellor's approach might be different with the client involved and should be tailored to the experiences and symptoms.

5. ESSENTIAL SERVICE

It is high time that the government of India regards domestic violence as an essential service. It should be in the frontline of our policies and should be paid immediate attention.

Shraddha Menon

Amulya Nanda Dikshita Bhatnagar Disha Desai

Reference List

WHO- Covid19 & violence against women, WHO, https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/331699/WHO-SRH-20.04-eng.pdf

The Shadow Pandemic, UN Women, https://www.unwomen.org/en

The link between lockdown, covid 19 and domestic violence, Arjun Kumar,Balwant Singh, Simi Mehta, https://idronlinr.org

COVID 19 and domestic violence against women, Mansi Vora, Barikar C Malathesh, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih

COVID-19, Domestic Abuse and Violence: Where Do Indian Women Stand?EPW, https://www.epw.in/engage

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Domestic violence during covid 19 lockdown emerges as a serious trouble, Dhamini Ratnam, https://www.hindustantimes.com/

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Covid-19 and Domestic Violence: an Indirect Path to Social and Economic Crisis, Amalesh Sharma & Sourav Bikash Borah , https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10896-020-00188-8

Exacerbation of Physical Intimate Partner Violence during COVID-19 Lockdown, Babina Gosangi*, Hyesun Park*, Richard Thomas, Rahul Gujrathi, Camden P. Bay, Ali S. Raja, Steven E. Seltzer, Marta Chadwick Balcom, https://pubs.rsna.org/doi/10.1148/radiol.2020202866

Study: Increased Domestic Violence Injuries During COVID-19, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20008198.2020.1800245

Violence against Women and Girls, Sangeeta Rege, Padma Bhate-Deosthali, T K Sundari Ravindran, https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9780429285462

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