Domestic Violence: An Additive to COVID-19 Crisis

Introduction

Violence among animals is a common phenomenon for resources, dignity, geography, and leadership. Human society is not out of this unique phenomenon of violence for similar reasons. As civilization grows in the crucible of time there is marked change in human society. Human society advocates to denounce the act of violence in general and approve it in exceptional cases. Hence, peace is the order of the day. The human beings over history faced many street fights, battles and wars for numerous reasons. However, inflicting violence and injury never brings solution to any problem. May it be medieval fighting among social groups or centuries of war by Europeans among the kingdoms. The achievement of sustainable development goals (SDGs) has a mandate to remove violence in any form particularly among women. The terminologies such as violence against women, intimate partner violence (IPV), spousal violence and domestic abuse are used interchangeably for the similar purpose without much difference (Ahmad & Jaleel, 2015). All the terms of violence have a detrimental effect on the health and wellness of women in the life cycle even before birth (Dive, 2011; Watts & Zimmerman, 2002).

The history of public health and pandemics around the world shows that pandemics have dampened the spirit of humankind. The past epidemics of Plague, Spanish Flu, Chickenpox, Smallpox, Measles, Polio and many more have threatened the life of human beings (Samal, 2014). The current pandemic of COVID-19 has given birth to several social problems in addition to the typical bio-medical problems. The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus-2 (SARS-COV-2) and the resultant disease Corona Virus Disease-19 (COVID-19) which originated from the Wuhan city of Hubei province of China made havoc in the life of myriads of people across the globe (Huang et al., 2020. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the crisis as Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) and was further declared as a ‘pandemic’ (International Committee on Taxonomy of Virus, 2020; Notice of the National Health Commission, 2020). In India, to ward off the pandemic a complete lockdown was initiated from the 3rd week of March 2020. The initial lockdown extended for a second phase across the nation due to increased incidence of cases in the country. The Typical preventive measures of this pandemic such as physical distancing, quarantine and isolation have created a whole lot of problems in the community such as social stigma, discrimination, racism and domestic violence as well. This narrative discusses the impact of COVID-19 and the resultant household violence through different perspectives.

Violence and Women

Violence against women perpetrated by the husband or intimate partner is an unfortunate reality. The human right violation of women by inflicting violence have a public health implication (WHO, 2013). The United Nation in its declaration for elimination of violence defined violence against women as follows in 1993 (United Nations Population Fund, 2017).

Family violence broadly referred to threat or violent behaviours in a family which may be physical, sexual, psychological, economic, and IPV (Peterman et al., 2020; Van Gelder et al., 2020). Whereas, violence in the time of pandemics is a result of economic distress, disaster havoc, exposure to bitter relationships, and low levels of support (Peterman et al., 2020). During this crisis of COVID-19 many countries around the world have reported cases of domestic violence. India, being a very large country with a patriarchal family structure the phenomenon of domestic violence appears usual. The eternal superiority feeling of men in Indian society largely legitimates the violence against women. Thus, it becomes imperative to ensure the women’s rights by avoiding IPV and domestic violence at the local and national levels (Goli et al., 2020).

Furthermore, the mental health depends on many facets of socialization. The Indian society is very much mixing and jovial in nature. Isolation is a rare event in Indian society due to its high population density and traditional culture. However, in case of COVID-19 pandemic isolation is the new norm to fight the situation. The isolation led to violence in the family as people stay indoors and have less access to the outside world limiting social relationships and networking.

Moreover, India is a free society with traditional values and culture. Indian women are gradually adopting western values for a better lifestyle and engaging themselves in outdoor activities. However, during COVID crisis it has become difficult for the women to work outside the home especially in workplaces. This situation resulted in prolonged stay at home or work from home. However, the abusive male partners in some Indian families have more control over the body and mind of women in the families leading to torture and violence in the four walls of the home.

Social Distancing and Domestic Violence

Social distancing/Physical distancing has been the standard modus operandi to stay away from COVID-19. Worldwide this intervention has been advocated to ward off the transmission of COVID-19 and implementation of lockdowns nationally by different national governments are the extended arrangements to follow social distancing. However, this benevolent idea tuned out to be malevolent for many societies and gave birth to many social problems including domestic violence. Domestic violence reportedly increased due to social distancing. Physical distancing increased the scope of conflict in the homes in Los Angeles and Indianapolis of the USA. This is evident in the increased violence/distress call by women (Mohler et al., 2020). There are also many violence calls due to domestic disturbances but free from real violence (MacDonald et al., 2003). It has been further observed that the domestic violence has an increasing trend due to extended periods of contact among potential offenders and imminent victims (Mohler et al., 2020).

It is needless to mention that social distancing, shelter in isolation, limited travel, and cancelation of community functions to curb the spread of COVID 19 collectively contributed to domestic violence across the globe (Campbell, 2020). Further, the perpetrators of domestic violence restrict the use of social media, internet, and cell phones by the victim to reach electronically for help (Campbell, 2020). There are reports of increasing homicide across the globe. Intimate partner homicides are an increased phenomenon due to COVID 19. There is also an increasing gun and ammunition sales in COVID crisis which have a clear relationship between availability of firearm and fatal domestic violence (Campbell, 2020; Liem & Reichelmann, 2014).

There is an appeal from communities to decongest the jails by mass release of prisoners as an effort to reduce risk of spreading coronavirus. If the potential offenders come to society, they may be using the violence as a means in the community (Smith et al., 2014). Reports suggest that there is an increased trend of domestic violence across the globe. There is a report of three times increase in domestic violence in People’s Republic of China during shelter-in-place mandate. France also reported an increase of 30% in domestic violence. Whereas, Brazil have a jump of 40–50%. Spain reports the increase of horrendous domestic violence-related homicide which is in line with global trends. There is an increase in physical harm in the USA (Campbell, 2020).

Poor Economy and Violence

People are happy when they have resources. Once resources are depleted there would be difficulty in living. The COVID crisis made the life of Indians very difficult. There is a common phenomenon in poor countries in which ensuring social security during crisis period becomes difficult. The poor economic condition of Indians many times leads to violence in the society. Like many more social evils, the domestic violence also raises its head during the crisis of COVID. In low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) many people live in constrained financial conditions with abject poverty (Vieira et al., 2020). The compulsory confinement and isolation lead to interpersonal conflict and increasing domestic violence. In China, the local authorities send messages of warning of the outcome of staying in the same place for family members for longer period (Simonovic, 2020). Even appointments for divorce have risen significantly in China after the period of stay-at-home order was in force. According to experts, the stay-at-home for longer period culminate in impulsive decision stemmed from daily conflict which ultimately lead to divorce (Global Times, 2020).

COVID Crisis in Rural Area and the Resultant Violence Against Women

The rural areas face serious problems during the COVID crisis due to lack of accessibility to many important services and social support networks. The rural Indian women also face serious challenges in receiving health care services and above that they suffer from violence within families. Evidence shows that they cannot access the services of police and legal aid despite suffering from heavy violence within families. Further, the help from near and dears is also at far away during violence. The women in rural areas are more vulnerable due to effects of coronavirus. The marginalization in rural areas is due to poor education, black race and young age (Dias et al., 2020). The women are of course forced to quarantine in many part of the world with the abusive family members due to law (de Lima et al., 2020). Evidences show that spouses are the main perpetrator of the aggression and physical violence. In case of alcoholic spouse, the aggression is more (United Nations Population Found, 2020).

Incidences of Domestic Violence During Lockdown in India

Various incidences of domestic violence were reported in India during lockdown. Incidence of reporting of the violence by women against their husbands happened in many parts of India. The police also care about the picture and make attempts to compromise between the husband and the wife but in many cases, during lockdown, it failed. The violence continued to an unbearable form during COVID crisis. Some of the domestic violence are not stand alone due to lockdown but are the extensions of long-continued torture against women in Indian families and got exacerbated during the lockdown period and went out of control (Nigam, 2020). The women commissions at state and central levels also received many calls for solutions arising due to lockdown and these are increasing in numbers than the normal time. Incidences also reported that when the alcoholic husbands beat their wives, they ran away from them and get help from different corners of society. During lockdown, it became very difficult on the part of the victim to run away and take external help outside the home (Nigam, 2020). The distress calls from women received by DCP/SP offices in India are also found to be increasing these days.

Effect of COVID-19 on the Homes and the Resultant Violence

The homes also changed their structure during COVID crisis. It is no more a safe place for the women due to various factors. The Indian families have not just a sweet perception about the families but also a sense of goodwill for the community. The Indian homes have more advantages than the western homes in normal times. However, the violence against women during COVID crisis is very similar to the western narratives in Indian homes. In usual times home is a place well-articulated with pleasures, privacy, freedom, security, closeness and a sense of love. The concepts such as power and patriarchy are also associated with home in complex relations. Sociologists also find an association of home with strong words such as slavery, feudalism, capitalism and patriarchy (Nigam, 2020).

Evidences from 80 nations show that one among three women those are in any relationship suffer from physical and/or sexual violence from their intimate partners (García-Moreno et al., 2013). Women and girls have increased vulnerability during crises due to lack of social network support and health care support (John et al., 2020).

The social distancing measures in public force the women to be with their family members for longer period which is the primary cause of tensions. There were huge concerns reported in the United Kingdom during COVID crisis about increased family violence during lockdown (Public Interest Law Centre, 2020). The factors for the abuse of women were identified as poverty, substance misuse, and earlier history of abuse (NICE, 2014, 2017). Advocates against domestic abusers and social workers are in the opinion to enhance support network against domestic abuse which include arrangement of hotels for the victims (Douglas et al., 2020; Public Interest Law Centre, 2020). The abusive partners have no concern for the health and wellbeing of women. The COVID crisis exacerbated the situation of abuse across the globe. The women face domestic violence in the wake of COVID crisis with increasing danger to life and health (Bradbury-Jones & Isham, 2020).

Less social interaction and more time being with abusive partners can expose to violence of women in the family. More extreme measures are taken by governments more the rise of cases of domestic violence in community (Gausman & Langer, 2020). Thus, there is a need of adopting gender lenses before making policy for the stringent measures during pandemics. The Secretary-General of United Nations, Antonio Guterres made an appeal for priority support for people suffering from family violence with the help of an early warning system. Pharmacies and grocery stores in France reported through emergency systems to help people in danger in a family (Srinivas & Guenfound, 2020).

Reports found that the National Commission for Women in India observed that in case of husband getting arrested with complaints from women in charges of domestic violence the in-laws would torture the victim further in the house as a part of revenge in India. The lockdown also makes it impossible to go to the parent’s house as a safe haven to protect from the perpetrator.

What Needs to be Done to Combat Domestic Violence

There are dedicated domestic abuse detection systems and agencies during COVID-19 with the help of friends and family for support (Domestic Violence Resource Centre Australia, 2020). The Governments in power and administrators must create awareness in community about the smearing risk of domestic violence with sufficient arrangement during any pandemic (Usher et al., 2020). Even during isolation, the requirement of social connectedness for a healthy living in the family needs to be ensured (Usher et al., 2020). The required information about hotlines, telehealth, respite services, shelters, rape crisis centres, and counselling must be well advertised (Usher et al., 2020). The COVID crisis leads to IPV. Partner violence is considered taboo for many people and has a private domain. Very low political priority is linked with IPV. Whereas, it has detrimental effects on the life of individuals, immediate family and community at large also (Van Gelder et al., 2020). The performance of the Indian government in reducing domestic violence is dismal. The women’s organizations in India demand that access to women in distress should be considered an essential service (Godbole, 2020). The Indian society must rethink and design a network of support for the betterment of the society. The system must be geared up to protect the interest of the women even in crisis like COVID. Protecting the women from violence must be an essential service that need to be delivered without any time lag. Because there is high chance of missing the life and dignity of women. The police, courts and social and family counsellors must be in a strong position in handling the situation.

Conclusion

The repercussions of COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented and has created a plethora of problem leading to unavailability of specific therapeutic measures, vaccine and many more social problems around the globe. The very preventive measures of physical distancing, isolation, quarantine and lockdown have serious impacts on women’s health and wellbeing as they stayed home during the crisis hours. This resulted in fresh domestic violence and exacerbated the existing ones and sadly women could not really access any support system during these days. These issues have also been observed in earlier public health crises such as Zika and Ebola crises. Thus, it becomes very much imperative on the part of each and every concerned society to take the issue of domestic violence as a serious concern and make necessary arrangements to curb it in an effective and timely manner without disturbing the social ecosystem.