COVID19 = ANOTHER REASON OF DOMESTION VOILANCE
What is domestic violence?
Domestic violence, or family violence, is violent, abusive or intimidating behaviour in a relationship. It takes a number of forms including physical, verbal, emotional, economic, religious, reproductive, and sexual abuse, which can range from subtle, coercive forms to marital rape and to violent physical abuse such as choking, beating, female genital mutilation, and acid throwing that results in disfigurement or death.[1]
For violence to be ‘domestic’, does it have to occur within your home?
For violence to be ‘domestic’, it doesn’t have to occur within your home, only within a relationship (with a family member or an intimate partner). It occurs when someone close to you has power and control over you. [2]
Faces of Abuse
Physical Abuse
Physical abuse is any intentional act causing injury or trauma to another person by way of bodily contact. Physical abuse in a relationship often starts gradually, such as with a push or a slap, and then becomes progressively worse over time.
Emotional Abuse
An emotional abuser does not use physical hitting, kicking, pinching, grabbing, pushing, or other physical forms of harm. Rather the perpetrator of emotional abuse uses emotion as his or her weapon of choice. Emotional abuse often goes unrecognized, but it can be very hurtful. Someone who is emotionally abusive towards you wants to chip away at your feelings of self-worth and independence.
Sexual Abuse
The term ‘sexual abuse’ covers rape, indecent assault, and a wide range of other unwanted sexual behaviours used by offenders as a way to control their victims. Sexual abuse is an act of violence that the attacker uses against someone they perceive as weaker than them. It does not come from an uncontrollable sex drive, but is a crime committed deliberately with the goal of controlling and humiliating the victim.
Social Abuse
Social domestic violence occurs when someone insults or humiliates you in front of other people, keeps you isolated from family and friends, or controls what you do and where you go. It can also involve a person or people trying to damage your relationships with others. People who are socially abusive may also attempt to make you look bad or ruin your reputation. Social abuse can include things done in the home, in public, over the phone, or on the internet and social media.
Financial Abuse
If someone close to you controls your finances and access to money, and keeps you financially dependent on them so that you always have to ask them for money, this is a form of domestic violence. Financial abuse involves controlling a victim's ability to acquire, use, and maintain financial resources. Those who are victimized financially may be prevented from working. They also may have their own money restricted or stolen by the abuser. And rarely do they have complete access to money and other resources. When they do have money, they often have to account for every penny they spend.
Spiritual Abuse
Spiritual domestic violence involves preventing you from having your own opinions about religion, cultural beliefs, and values. It may also involve causing you to doubt your thoughts on spirituality in order to make you feel powerless. Attempting to cause shame is a large part of spiritual abuse, as is preventing people from practicing their religious or cultural beliefs.
LOCKDOWN = MORE ABUSE?
As the covid-19 pandemic forced several countries into a lockdown, “intimate terrorism” — a term many experts prefer for domestic violence started flourishing. [3]
With governments enforcing quarantine measures and with fewer safe places to go the victims are left isolated with their abusers Work, school, community centres – Which might have been an escape point or sanctuaries under normal conditions, are closed.
Gendered roles world over placed domestic work on women’s shoulders, which is socially and culturally often demarcated as “women’s work” Under lockdown conditions, domestic work can be especially taxing if it is not divided equitably. The load of work during the lockdown has increased in houses because everybody is at home. With housekeeping staff being unavailable, the expectation is for women to bear the load, and chances of violence increase if she fails to do so.
Being trapped in a space with violent or manipulative individuals could lead to increased rates and intensity of threats, physical, sexual, and psychological abuse, humiliation, intimidation, and controlling behaviour. The ability to isolate a person from family and friends, monitor their movements, and restrict access to financial resources, employment opportunities, education, or medical care is heightened by a lockdown. These behaviours often have lasting effects on people, and can significantly affect mental health and well-being.[4]
A Worldwide Problem.
Across the world, countries including china, the United States, United Kingdom, Brazil, Tunisia, France, Australia, and others have reported cases of increased domestic violence and intimate partner violence.
On 6 April 2020, the United Nations secretary-general Antonio guterres called for a “ceasefire” to address the “horrifying global surge in domestic violence.”
Echoing the UN chief’s message, Phumzile Mlambo-ngcuka, executive director of UN women, said that confinement is fostering the tension and strain created by security, health and money worries; and is increasing isolation for women with violent partners.
She described the situation as “a perfect storm for controlling, violent behaviour behind closed doors.” Domestic violence is already, said Ms. Mlambo-ngcuka, widely under-reported, with less than 40 percent of women who experience violence seeking help, and the pandemic is making reporting even harder, because of “limitations on women’s and girls’ access to phones and help lines and disrupted public services like police, justice and social services.” These limitations “fuel impunity for the perpetrators”, she warned, adding that, in many countries, “the law is not on women’s side; one in four countries have no laws specifically protecting women from domestic violence.”[5]
COVID19 = ABUSE: THE INDIAN SCENARIO
After Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the nationwide lockdown, the number of domestic violence complaints received by the national commission for women (NCW) doubled.
“The cases of domestic violence are high in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana and Punjab,” says NCW chief Rekha Sharma. She says the main reason for the rise of domestic violence is that the men are at home and they are taking out their frustration on women and they refuse to participate in domestic work. Women are also confined within the four walls of the house and they cannot share their grief with anybody. The victims are also scared of complaining to the police because they fear that harassment will increase. Sharma says, “Most of the complaints are coming via email. My team is working 24/7 and we are shifting the victims to hostels or help them to reach their parents' homes. ” job loss, salary cuts, an uncertain future arising out of the lockdown has everyone on edge.[6]
Legal remedies against domestic violence in India
There are three laws in place in India that deal directly with domestic violence:
The protection of women from domestic violence act, 2005 is a civil law that provides protection to women in a household, from men in the household. This law not only protects women who are married to men but it also protects women who are in live-in relationships, as well as family members including mothers, grandmothers, etc. Under this law, women can seek protection against domestic violence, financial compensation, the right to live in their shared household, and they can get maintenance from their abuser in case they are living apart.
This law is to ensure that women do not get kicked out of their own homes and are able to sustain themselves if they have been abused. It is also meant for protecting women from their abusers – a magistrate can pass a protection order under the act to ensure the abuser doesn’t contact or get close to the survivor.
The second law is the dowry prohibition act. This is a criminal law that punishes the taking and giving of dowry. Under this law, if someone takes, gives, or even demands dowry, they can be imprisoned for 6 months or they can be fined up to RS. 5,000.
The third law that exists to help women who are facing violence at home is section 498a of the Indian penal code (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty). This is a criminal law, which applies to husbands or relatives of husbands who are cruel to women. Cruelty refers to any conduct that drives a woman to suicide or causes grave injury to her life or health – including mental health – and also includes harassment in the name of dowry. If convicted, people can be sent to jail for up to 3 years under this law.[7]
Conclusion – what could have been done, and the way forward
In India, the government seems to have overlooked the need to formally integrate domestic violence and mental health repercussions into the public health preparedness and emergency response plans against the pandemic. We need an aggressive nationwide campaign to promote awareness about domestic violence and highlight the various modes through which complaints can be filed. National news channels, radio channels, and social media platforms must be strategically used, similar to the way in which the government has deployed campaigns advocating for physical distancing and hand washing to combat covid-19. Reaching out to people facing domestic violence needs to be classified as an ‘essential service’ by the government.
Citizens must be sensitised towards the increased risks of domestic violence, and bystanders and neighbours should be urged to intervene if they suspect abuse, using tactics such as the banging on the door or ringing the bell. They should also be provided the benefit of anonymity if they choose to report a case. When people are unable to file complaints through messages, posts, or calls, essential services such as hospitals, grocery stores, and medical stores must be urged to help people get the necessary support and send their messages to the authorities if needed.[8]
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