During this pandemic time of COVID-19, everything is in the declining phase due to COVID-19 except two things that are the number of COVID-19 cases and the number of Domestic Violence complaints. This pandemic had put everyone’s lives and livelihood in danger, due to which all the Domestic Violence cases are seeking their spike. Now, let us understand what is Domestic Violence; the condition of the women’s safety during the lockdown; the increasing incidents of Domestic Violence; and what could be the solutions and remedies.

What is Domestic Violence?

Domestic Violence refers to any abusive behaviour in any relationship that is committed by one partner usually the husband, in-laws, other patriarchal relatives to gain or maintain control over another that is usually the woman of the house. These abusive behaviours include physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, economic abuse, psychological abuse, threats, and other activities which affect the reputation of any person.

Domestic violence is generally referred to as wife abuse, however, this term should not be limited to only wives only as domestic violence victims could be spouses, sexual/dating/intimate partners, family members, children, or cohabitants also.

Condition of Women Safety during the Lockdown

Mostly, women are the victims/sufferer of domestic violence in Indian society. During the lockdown, the domestic violence cases had gained a spike in its number. The main reason behind such spike is that most of the people are being adversely affected by the lockdown which had impacted their livelihood. People had become impatient and annoying due to their restrictions abided by the government.

Many people are tensed about their businesses that had been either shut down or don’t have any source to pay rents of their shops and offices. Due to this, the people are facing hypertension, irritation and depression, etc. Due to the pressure of work and shut down of businesses, men are becoming rude and are committing such abusive behaviours to their wives which is dreadful.

Women are being abused physically, sexually, emotionally, and are also facing many threats during this period in large numbers. Apart from domestic violence, lockdown had imposed more challenges to the women. Women are being overburdened with the increase in households works also. Along with this, women are being disrupted from the support system, and restricted from access to proper sexual and reproductive health issues. There has been a lack of access to crisis centres, shelters, legal aid and protection services guaranteed under various laws.

Increasing Incidents of Domestic Violence

The National Commission of Women (NCW) filed almost double the number of complaints during the lockdown. Also, a great spike in news related to the domestic violence had been seen in the newspapers, social media, and media channels.

A great change in the number of complaints had been seen in the state Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, and West Bengal according to the state-wise report of the complaints, however, there is a decline in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Madhya Pradesh.

The reason behind the decline in such states where there had always been the highest number of domestic violence cases could be either they are being restricted from making complaints or they are unable to fill up the causalities to form complaints.

Solutions or Remedies

The National Commission of Women had started taking complaints through the WhatsApp number (+91 7217735372) regarding domestic violence.  Along with this, police and many NGOs had also started working on these crucial issues via helpline numbers and by lodging complaints.