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Abstract
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COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in recent times, and it has affected people adversely. In any disaster, women are considered vulnerable because of many biopsychosocial factors. One of the important areas of concern is about the impact on mental health of women and increase in domestic violence against women (VAW), more so during the pandemic, which has been observed in many countries all over the world.
The United States Department of Justice Office on VAW has defined domestic violence as "a pattern of abusive behaviour in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain control over another intimate partner."[1] According to the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act of India, 2005, it is defined as "any act of commission or omission or conduct resulting in physical, verbal, emotional, sexual and economic abuse."[2] It includes insulting, controlling behavior, physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse, emotional abuse, threatening, stalking, cyberstalking, and economic abuse.
Globally, one-in-three women experience intimate partner violence. The economic costs of this violence range from 1% to 4% of global gross domestic product.[3] Two-third of married women in India are victims of domestic violence.[4] Multiple studies have found a relationship between natural disasters or any other extreme events with increase in the rates of interpersonal violence. Disasters appear to exacerbate preexisting social inequalities, disproportionately victimizing women, especially in developing nations, which can occur due to various reasons including stress due to physical confinement, economic disruption, possible unemployment, scarcity of basic provisions, and limited social support.[5]
The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and the World Health Organization recommended social isolation and containment measures. The Indian government announced a countrywide lockdown, starting at midnight on March 24, 2020, requiring that people stay at home and leave only for an essential reason. But home may not be always a safe place, in fact, it is often considered as the place where abuse occurs against women. This is because in largely patriarchal India society,power dynamics can be distorted by those who abuse,often without scrutiny from anyone from the outside. Unintentionally, "lockdown" and other restrictions may be granted more freedom to people who abuse "behind closed doors."[6]
As social isolation requires families to remain in their homes, it increases interpersonal arguments and conflicts. The fear and uncertainty associated with the pandemic, along with unemployment and economical stressors, mainly in developing countries, can affect individuals and men may develop maladaptive behaviors to cope with the situation, which triggers domestic abuse.[7] Men in India, because of sociocultural context, believe in dominance and blame the spouse; women thus are at the receiving end in all aspects including financial issues.[7],[8] There is also depletion of existing social support of friends and extended family and fewer opportunities for people living with family violence to call for help.[7] These behaviors can significantly affect their mental health and well-being.
United Nations Women, a special wing of UN, has referred to the rise in VAW during the COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying lockdowns as the "Shadow Pandemic."[9] A recent article reported on the pattern of the surge of domestic violence cases being repeated globally. It highlighted alarming figures, for example, a rise of reports of domestic violence by 40% or 50% in Brazil.[10] In the UK, one of the leading domestic abuse organizations reported that calls to the UK Domestic Violence Helpline increased by 25% in the week following the announcement of tighter social distancing and lockdown measures by the government. During the same period, there was a 150% increase in visits to the support website.[11]
India, with existing concern for gender-based violence (and ranked the fourth worst country for gender equality, according to public perception), is showing similar trends. After the announcement of nationwide lockdown, the number of domestic violence complaints received by the National Commission for Women (NCW) had increased significantly. Until early April 2020, there was a twofold increase in complaints related to VAW. As complaints surged, the NCW raised an urgent alert to announce mental health helplines for those witnessing any form of domestic violence...
Language: en |