Social Awareness.
Domestic Violence During COVID-19
There is a preliminary evidence to conclude that domestic violence during the COVID-19 increased globally. The restrictions imposed to curb the spread of virus resulted in an increase in violence. For instance, the frontline practitioners dedicated to support victims of domestic violence in Australia reported an increase in the frequency and severity of violence against women during COVID-19 (Fitz-Gibbon et al. 2020). There was an increase in new violence incidents as well. Around 42% of the Australian practitioners noted an increase in first-time family violence reporting by women (Fitz-Gibbon et al. 2020). Mahase (2020) reported a 60% increase in emergency calls related to violence against women by their intimate partners in Europe. Similarly, Agüero (2020) found a 48% increase in helpline calls related to domestic violence in Peru. While analyzing tweets related to domestic violence, Xue et al. (2020) highlighted that tweets mentioning an increase in domestic violence due to COVID-19 were frequent (Xue et al. 2020).
Regarding domestic violence during the COVID-19, only a few empirical published studies are available. For instance, a study on Ethiopian women found that almost one in four women experienced any form of domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic. Housewives aged less than 30 years, and with arrange marriage were at greater odds of experiencing domestic violence (Gebrewahd et al. 2020). Piquero et al. (2020) examined the association between stay-at-home order in Dallas and domestic violence during COVID-19. Using data from Dallas Police Department, they found an increase in domestic violence in the first two weeks after the lockdown was imposed and a decrease later (Piquero et al. 2020). Sediri et al. (2020) reported that violence against Tunisian women increased during the lockdown. Further, it was positively associated with depression, anxiety, and stress (Sediri et al. 2020). These studies can only be considered the first step towards a more profound understanding of domestic violence during COVID-19.
Photo: The Telegraph
Domestic Violence in India during COVID-19
On 22nd March 2020, the Prime Minister of India announced a nationwide lockdown for one day. This lockdown was subsequently extended for a week, then for 21 days and finally until 3rd May 2020 to contain the spread of COVID-19. India declared COVID-19 a “notified disaster” under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 (Sharma et al. 2020). Extended lockdown and other social distancing measures imposed to curb the pandemic made women more vulnerable to domestic violence. Women were fighting a shadow pandemic inside their homes (UN Women 2020).
National Commission for Women’s (NCW) data showed that domestic violence complaints doubled after the nationwide lockdown was imposed in India (Vora et al. 2020). Tamil Nadu Police reported an increase in domestic violence complaints. They received approximately 25 calls every day during the lockdown period and registered at least 40 such cases (Kannan 2020). Similarly, Bangalore Police reported a spike in complaints from 10 calls to 25 calls every day from the victims of domestic violence (Peter 2020). These data from different sources indicate that domestic violence incidents increased across the country during the lockdown. On the contrary, organizations such as Jagori, Shakti Shalini, and AKS Foundation reported a decrease in complaint calls related to domestic violence (Ghoshal 2020). The decrease could be attributed to confinement at home, constant monitoring (Piquero et al. 2020) and controlling decision-making by the abuser, social isolation of victims from friends and family members (Kaukinen 2020), and reduced options for support (Usher et al. 2020).
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