Why Domestic Violence Increasing During Lockdown?

Rise in Domestic Violence During Lockdown: India is a country where its Hindu population believes in 33 crores “Devi” and “Devata” in which many are Goddesses like “Durga Ma”, “Kali Ma”, etc. Durga and Kali maa are actually can be seen in today’s world as an example of women empowerment and feminism. Some men don’t have any respect for women although they spend a huge amount of time worshipping female deities. A country wherein daylight we worship Goddess and then in the same house at night women are being beaten and harassed. Are we that much hypocrites.

Well, earlier domestic violence was experienced by women only but now it has become more gender-neutral. In 2004, the National Family Health Survey has found that about 1.8% or 60 lakh women have penetrated physical violence against husbands without any provocation. However, men are more likely to be threatened and attacked by male relatives of the wife than the wife herself. When physical violence and threats against men by wife’s relatives are taken into account, an estimated 3 crore men are facing domestic violence in India. There is no legal protection for men against domestic violence. But still more women face domestic violence than men in India.

Domestic Violence Increasing During Lockdown 

Amid this deadly COVID-19 epidemic, a massive spike has been seen in domestic violence cases because of lockdown. It’s like a situation where women are inside their home to protect her from “outside coronavirus” but at the same time she is afraid to live in that very same home because of “inside coronavirus”. You all must be thinking “What is inside coronavirus ?” Well, these are those categories of people who are practicing domestic violence against women.

According to the National Commission for Women, 1, 257 complaints related to various offenses against women were received between 24th March and 1st April and out of this,69 complaints were related to domestic violence. The NCW has provided WhatsApp number (7217735372 ), complaint links and emails to register complaints against such cases. “This is an emergency number for women facing domestic violence complaints only,” an NCW member said.

 Unfortunately, this is not something new for us but the question is “Why  there has been an increase in domestic violence complaints during a lockdown?” The world is in a big crisis today. Lockdown and the disease had badly affected the economy of every country. People are stressed and fearful because on one side they are losing their job like daily wage laborers and on another side, their economic burden is increasing while sitting at home as unemployed. People are getting frustrated as they are unable to manage their daily subsistence and other financial burdens like loans and all.

As people are spending more time with their family than prior therefore this whole frustration is being turned into domestic violence against women. Some couples were already not in a healthy relationship and because of that now they are facing difficulty tolerating each other. They have got enough time to find the mistakes of each other. Some women fear to call cops because her father-in-law would harass her if her husband gets arrested. They can’t go to their parent’s home also or call them to her house because of lockdown.

Some are not filing a complaint because they are not empowered enough or unaware of their rights and financially dependent on others. In urban areas, some working women are capable to take action against violence but some are housewives who are not much capable and aware to take any step against violence. Our 70% population lives in rural areas where most women are still not aware of their basic rights. Here most women consider domestic violence very normal or as a birthright of a man. According to the WHO report,1 in every 3 women faces physical or sexual violence in their lifetime. But now ASHA workers and some NGOs are doing a commendable job in spreading basic awareness among village women.

A rise in domestic violence is a problem but the bigger problem is when these cases are not reported or complaints are not filed. Therefore government, media, civil society, NGOs, etc should try to spread more awareness among women about these issues and the remedies available. Also, women should be encouraged to become financially independent so that they could confidently raise their voice in their family. Police should be trained for gender sensitization and to show more empathy towards victims. Legal awareness should be conducted in every school, colleges, workplaces, institutions, etc. We should appoint women counselors in every police station so that victims could easily express and communicate.

Citizens also need to conduct good parenting and make their child gender-neutral. If mother-in-law wants respect from her daughter-in-law, then she needs to treat her daughter-in-law as her real daughter and vice versa. But despite so many stringent laws, these crimes are increasing day by day, therefore, we also need to change this patriarchal culture in our society and aim to achieve a society where everybody could have an equal say in every matter. It’s obvious that we need laws to run society peacefully but without the cooperation of society itself, it would become impossible to end this social illness.