Increasing Domestic Violence Cases after the Nationwide Lockdown

India has been under a three-week lockdown which started on March 24th, 21 days lockdown due to the coronavirus has been announced by the prime minister of the country is almost in the middle of this entire lockdown process there are many challenges as far as this entire lockdown process across the country is concerned, there is another horrifying aspect of this lockdown which has now emerged with reports still coming in domestic violence’s against women, there has been a sharp increase in the number of cases according to the National Commission for Women (NCW).

WHAT IS THE REASON FOR IT?

This is in comparison of data to the normal circumstances which is a sharp increase. The NCW in fact attributed the many of these cases that could be used as a result, because of frustration which is setting in and especially among men, those who are sitting at their houses not able to go out to their work or to other activities which in turn is being taken out on the women in their houses a very very disturbing scenario as far as the rising number of domestic violence cases is concerned one.

Ms Rekha Sharma, chairperson of the National Commission for Women (NCW) said that she had received one or two complaints every day directly on her e-mail in spite of they are sending many complaints on the http://ncw.nic.in/ on their website by registering their complaints, there are the no. of complaints sent to the personal e-mails of the members of staff directly this time.

Different kinds of Complaints are received because of the lockdown, this is because women are may not be able to reach to the police and they don’t want to go to the police because they are afraid that if the husband comes out or come from the police station after a day or two again he will torture and she can’t even move out now.

Now the big worry for the NCW is that many of the women especially in the semi urban-rural kind of setting they don’t know how to operate e-mails or send you to know just a message to save themselves as a complaint or to seek help as most of these women right and with the Indian post also getting affected the railways are not working, the flights are not in fact taking the post from one place to the another. Many of these women from the rural setting specially used to write and send letters to the NCW as complaints that are not coming in and that could also be one reason that they are not getting the larger picture across the country but this worrying phenomenon.

ITI RAWAT’S INITIATIVE

Ms Iti Rawat is the founder of Women Entrepreneurs for Transformation (WEFT), sent a message on her networks to provide financial help to the Suffered women during the coronavirus lockdown. After this message, she got received 43 complaints within a week via emails and phone calls while she was all expecting some business queries in response to her message.

Ms Iti Rawat's organization has now established the Red Dot Initiative in which a woman who faces any kind of domestic violence or abuse can put a red bindi or decorative red dot on their foreheads to express their distress; if they're unable to show or express it verbally. They all can show it either to their neighbour, shopkeepers or even they can send it as an image to the Women Entrepreneurs for Transformation (WEFT) helpline as a distress call.

Ms Iti Rawat said that they had formed a task force to get the red dot sign recognized as a code for women in need of help and started working to help her". The initiative becomes fruitful for the Kolkata House lady whose husband had beaten her.

CHILD ABUSE AND VIOLENCE

The Child helpline of India also received around 92,000 calls asking for protection of children from abuse and violence in their houses during the 21 days lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic which not only turned the extended captivity for just many of the women but also for children trapped at homes with the abusers.

At the International level, around 3.07 lakh calls were received by the 'CHILDLINE HELPLINE NO. 1098' for children across the country between the 20th March 2020 to 31st March 2020 which is the first week of the lockdown in which 30% were about protection against abuse and violence on children.

Some of the Child rights bodies like State & National Commission for Protection of Child Rights and many others recently wrote a letter to the Prime Minister's Office, seeking the government to declare 1098 as toll-free and to make it a COVID-19 emergency outreach number for children or parents or caregivers.

IS IT A GLOBAL PROBLEM?

This worrying trend is not only being reported from India it has become a global problem no sample this I will take you through some of the examples; according to the media reports call to online services and domestic violence cases in united states has significantly increased while the gender-based cases has doubled in India during the first week of the restricted movements there are cases of increase in the number of women not only being assaulted physically but also being murdered in Turkey, many of these cases have risen 90,000 gender-based violence cases have also been reported from South Africa in United Kingdom, the national domestic abuse helpline has seen a 25% increase in their calls now in addition to those trillion government has also reported a 75% increase in Online searches for support on domestic violence in France in fact the French Minister has gone on record and given a statement that domestic violence rose 32% across France and 36% in Paris in the first week of the nationwide lockdown that was announced in France to fight the Coronavirus.

STATEMENT BY THE UN

Meanwhile, this has been acknowledged at the highest level at United Nations as well the UN General Secretary Mr Antonio Marez has in fact said that there is a horrifying trend of increasing the number of cases of domestic violence against women and he is called upon all the countries to react and in fact act on this on urgent basis.

In some countries, the number of women calling support services as doubles in wireless care providers and police is overwhelmed and understaffed local support groups are paralyzed or short of funds. Some domestic violence shelters are closed others are food. He urged all the governments to make the preventions and redress of violence against women, a key part of their national response plans for COVID-19.

[The author, Shivam Sharma is a fourth-year law student at IME Law College, Delhi]

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