"Shadow Pandemic": Predator and Prey

 

 

"Shadow Pandemic": How Gender-based violence increased during Lockdown?

Not safe in the womb, not safe in the house, not safe in the streets, not safe in the dark, not safe in the light, not safe in suits, not safe in shorts, not safe in burquas, not safe anywhere, or let us say 'NOT SAFE AMONG MEN'. If we talk about women, she may have realized that she is not safe in the public only until her husband, father, brother, uncle, son, or let us say "men", made her realize that her own house wasn't safe either.

 

Gender-based violence is a hidden consequence. It has appeared as a harsh reality when survival becomes the question. The lockdown which was imposed in March, to curb COVID 19 infections, lead to great challenges, mainly faced by women and children. Women individuals suffering violence at home feared unsafe to live because of selfish humans. On one hand, where people were suffering to struggle for their basic needs like food and shelter, on the other, the worst happened with the women. The organizations like UN Women, Ministry of Women and Child Development, and many more published various reports which proved that women were not safe at home. The difficulties arose when women and children didn't have any means to contact these government and non-government organizations. So, suffering silently was the only option left for them. Maximum were the girl children who were abused by their family members at home and couldn't approach any organization for protection.

According to the data released by National Commission for Women(NCW), the domestic violence cases during the lockdown increased from over 2.5 times. In some cases, women either locked themselves in the washrooms or hid somewhere to make an SOS call. Obviously, living in the same house as a victim with the perpetrator seemed to be hard. Fear of further getting abused restricted them to approach any organization for help. The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) considered the lockdown as a "shadow pandemic". 

 

According to NBER's data, the highest cases of violence and cybercrime against women/ children were observed in the areas that fell under the Red zones(strict lockdown measures). So, it was natural to falling of cases of rapes and sexual assault outside the home. Studies proved that the cases of domestic violence against women rose by 131 % and that of online abuse cases rose by 184 % in the red zones. The NCW's data showed that Delhi and Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of cases of violence against women. There were thousands of cases left unreported as well.

 

Similarly, the cases of child sexual abuse, cyber-bullying, and other violence related to children saw a gradual rise during the lockdown. NGO named Protsahan India Foundation claimed that the lockdown was an eye-opener to the violence against child-rights.

 

According to the study, during the pandemic, over 55 % of adolescent girls have gone through gender-based discrimination and violence. 11 % were forced to get married even much before their legal age of marriage, 13 % faced incidents of sexual abuse. Not only this, 19 % of them were about to be get married and another 19 % were forced to work before the age of 15 years. So, this clarifies that there is no end to child rights violations in India. Globally also, this percentage is not as alarming as in India but the numbers can be substantial.

 

source link: https://www.molitics.in/article/787/how-gender-based-violence-increased-during-lockdown