Domestic violence during lockdown

August 17, 2020

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In India the role of women is confined to that of a daughter, housewives and mother, she played a important role in our life. Unhappily she is not safe even in the four walls of their homes. Women are subjected to physically torture and harassment irrespectively of their economic status, religion, caste and creed. Women are vulnerable to act of family which include martial cruelty, dowry, murder, child abuse etc. On the another level they face violence in the form of sexual harassment, rape, eve-teasing and gender discrimination. Our ancestor said that “Children learn from their parents and following them.

Earlier women did not utter a single word when they beated for the first time because their mother told her to be quite and adjust with the family norms and the cycle goes on. Beating women is said to be the most prevalent form of domestic violence which reflects men’s frustration to convince their partner at their inability of spoken words.

As per the U.N. report million of women and girls between the age of 15 and 59 are suffering from sexual and physical violence worldwide by their intimate partner in the last 12 Months. LGBTQ similarly experience the same at high level of violence. Rising number of sick people, growing unemployment increased depression, financial emergency & a scarcity of community resources have set the stage for an worse domestic violence crises. Many victims find themselves out of the way in violent homes, without access to resources or friend and family network. Abuses could rise financial pressure and stress increase in t heir consumption of alcohol and drugs, and purchase as an emergency measures. Experts characterized an invisible pandemic of domestic violence during the Covid 19 crises as a ticking time bomb.

Several countries and Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) have already taken innovative steps in this direction. Places around the world have seen a dramatic increase in the demand for social services and assistance, especially from people in worse condition who may not have legal knowledge for social welfare, even there are several helplines and shelter homes for the survivors those which is made by the non-government organizations the help they provide got curtailed due to the lockdown.

Women are unable to reach to the police stations, and social workers are unable to reach them, the police under the pressure of covid-19 with the duties are unable to visit homes and investigate domestic dispute. Moreover the Domestic Cases are filed in the lower court but due to this covid-19 courts are only open for emergency hearings.

The petition is filed by the ALL INDIA COUNCIL OF Human Rights, Liberties and social justice, detailed the threat to the safety of the women, specifically during when they are locked with their partners in this lockdown. It outlined the total of 1,462 complaints in the month of January out of which 270 were cases of domestic violence. In February 302 complaints were registered of domestic violence, and in the month of March out of 1323 cases, there were 302 cases of reported of domestic violence.

The Delhi High Court recently directed the state and the centre to take measures to protect women from the domestic violence , following the petition filed by an NGO. New campaigns also use social media to spread awareness of resources available to survivors including text messages based reporting and mobile applications.