Violence Against Women and COVID Pandemic– Double the Trouble!
Keywords:
Domestic violence, sexual violence, COVID-19, Shadow Pandemic
Abstract
Violence against women remains terribly pervasive and affects 1 in 3 (roughly 736 million) women across their lifetime. This violence can be from an intimate or non-intimate partner and have been fairly unchanged over that last decade since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been emerging data from front line workers that violence of all forms against women and girls has intensified. Addressing this shadow pandemic is a health care crisis of global proportions, but of special significance in the patriarchal Indian scenario and needs to be prioritized amidst the COVID care issues. The first step forward is awareness, followed by access and availability of services. This cannot be achieved overnight but by a step-wise approach. There is an urgent need to adapt our approach, integrate these issues into our health care systems so that survivors can access appropriate medical and social services.
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2. The Shadow Pandemic: Violence against women during COVID-19 [Internet]. UN Women. [cited 2021 Jul 26]. Available from: https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/infocus/ in-focus-gender-equality-in-covid-19-response/violence- against-women-during-covid-19.
3. Press release: UN Women raises awareness of the shadow pandemic of violence against women during COVID-19 [Internet]. UN Women. 2020 [cited 2021 Jul 26]. Available from: https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2020/5/press-release-the-shadow-pandemic-of-violence- againstwomen- during-covid-19.
4. unodc.org [Internet]. United Nations; c2020 [cited 2020 Jul 26]. Available from: https://www.unodc.org/documents/Advocacy-Section/EssentialServices-Infographic-COVIDFIN_ WEB_VERSION.
5. National Family Health Survey. Fact Sheet: Women age 20-24 years married before age 18 years (%), 2019-20. [cited 2021 Jul 26]. Available from http://rchiips.org/nfhs/factsheet_ NFHS-5.shtml.
6. Seth P. As COVID-19 Raged, the Shadow Pandemic of Domestic Violence Swept Across the Globe [Internet]. The Wire. 2021 [cited 2021 Jul 26]. Available from: https://thewire. in/women/covid-19-domestic-violence-hdr-2020
7. Schneider D., Harknett K., McLanahan S. Intimate partner violence in the great recession. Demography. 2016;53(2):471–505.
8. EPW Engage. 2020. COVID-19, Domestic Abuse and Violence: Where Do Indian Women Stand? [Internet]. [cited 2021 Jul 26]. Available from: https://www.epw.in/engage/article/ covid-19-domestic-abuse-and-violence-where-do.
9. Nikore M. With Covid-19, comes the “Shadow Pandemic”: How the surge of domestic violence gripped India’s women in 2020 [Internet]. Times of India Blog. 2020 [cited 2021 Jul 26]. Available from: https://timesofindia.indiatimes. com/blogs/irrational-economics/with-covid-19-comes-theshadow- pandemic-how-the-surge-of-domestic-violencegripped- indias-women-in-2020/
10. A digital cry for help: Big data study in Asia-Pacific provides key signposts to violence against women amid COVID-19 [Internet]. United Nations Population Fund. 2021 [cited 2021 Jul 26]. Available from: https://www.unfpa.org/news/digital- cry-help-big-data-study-asia-pacific-provides-key-signposts- violence-against-women
11. Singh PK. Act now to address the shadow pandemic of violence against women [Internet]. World Health Organization. World Health Organization; 2020 [cited 2021 Jul 26].Available from: https://www.who.int/southeastasia/news/detail/25-11-2020-act-now-to-address-the-shadow-pandemic- of-violence-against-women
12. The Shadow Pandemic in Latin America: The Impact of COVID-19 on Gender-Based Violence [Internet]. Wilson Center. 2020 [cited 2021 Jul 26]. Available from: https://www.wilsoncenter.org/video/shadow-pandemic-latin-americaimpact- covid-19-gender-based-violence
13. Davies G, Guenfoud I, Jovanovic D. [Internet]. ABC News. ABC News Network; 2021 [cited 2021 Jul 26]. Available from:
https://abcnews.go.com/International/shadow-pandemic- domestic-abuse-reports-soar-europes-coronavirus/ story?id=76325386
14. Dhokia T, Wani R, Jalvee R, Paprikar S. “Sexual Assault: Current Scenario at a Referral Center in Mumbai”, International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), Volume 7 Issue 12, December 2018, 1308 – 1310.
15. Sharma A, Borah SB. Covid-19 and Domestic Violence: an Indirect Path to Social and Economic Crisis. J Fam Viol (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-020-00188-8
16. Campbell AM, Hicks RA, Thompson SL, Wiehe SE. Characteristics of intimate partner violence incidents and the environments in which they occur: Victim reports to responding law enforcement officers. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 0886260517704230 (2017).
17. Katz J, Moore, J. Bystander education training for campus sexual assault prevention: An initial meta-analysis. Violence and Victims, 28(6), 1054–1067 (2013).
18. Rodriguez MA, McLoughlin E, Nah G, Campbell JC. Mandatory reporting of domestic violence injuries to the police: What do emergency department patients think? Jama, 286(5), 580–583 (2001).
19. Felson RB, Messner SF, Hoskin AW, Deane G. Reasons for reporting and not reporting domestic violence to the police.Criminology, 40(3), 617– 648 (2002).
20. Tasca M, Rodriguez N, Spohn C, Koss MP. Police decision making in sexual assault cases: Predictors of suspect identification
and arrest. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 28(6), 1157– 1177 (2013).
21. Choi GY, Byoun SJ. Domestic violence against migrant women in South Korea: Addressing the needs of a uniquely situated victim population in domestic violence policy. International Social Work, 57(6), 645–660 (2014).
22. Dominelli L, Campling J. Anti oppressive social work theory and practice: Macmillan international higher education (2002).
Published
2021-08-30
How to Cite
Dr. Reena J. Wani, Dr. Varun J. Wani, Zachary DiBiase. (2021). Violence Against Women and COVID Pandemic– Double the Trouble!. The Indian Practitioner, 74(8), 7-11. Retrieved from https://articles.theindianpractitioner.com/index.php/tip/article/view/1229
Section
Editorial
