The COVID-19 pandemic was an acute respiratory syndrome which spread in Wuhan, Hubei Province in December 2019, and by early 2020, it was declared a global health emergency. Covid- 19 or coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 became an international concern and by March 2020, the world was under lockdown. Cities, towns, villages were deserted with people locked inside their homes. For months, shops and café houses remained closed, board meetings were done online and executive suits were transformed into virtual salons where sophistication was met with pyjama bottoms, in schools and colleges brilliance was delivered amid the constant chaos of “my Wi-Fi is not working” and classrooms had become a virtual game of hide-n-seek. Lockdown brought some families together, evening snack parties and late-night movie times or playing cards had become the norm; yet, for some families, being locked in together had become a nightmare.
During the covid-19 pandemic, as the lockdown situation grew more serious, the problem of domestic violence escalated. A significant increase in domestic violence cases was marked during this period. The national commission for women (NCW) reported a 100% increase in domestic violence and abuse cases. “The COVID-19 pandemic has not only posed alarming health challenges but also exacerbated the scenarios of intimate partner violence (IPV) against women globally.” (Rajan Ram, Shrinivas Goli, Manish Kumar, 24th December 2024, Measuring the impact of COVID-19 exposure on reporting of intimate partner violence in India using an intent-to-treat framework, nature.com(https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-82644-9)). Almost every woman had a story to tell and a scar to hide.
In Delhi, a 28-year-old woman, wife, and a mother of two underwent acute corporal violence at the hands of her husband and in-law’s. The lady filed a police complaint, who sought for mediation, and when the husband discovered such, she was subjected to more abuse. She was later transferred to a shelter home along with her two children. In Maharashtra, a 30-year-old woman was subjected to mental and psychological trauma at the hands of her in-laws when her husband was in another country for work and could not return due to strict lockdown measures. She was kept away from her 7-year-old son, who was also subjected to physical assault. Later she fought a long battle for custody when her husband unfortunately passed away.
“On 25 March 2020 in a slum in Chennai, an alcoholic husband has beaten Parvathi, 25- year-old woman. Earlier, when he used to beat her, she would run outside in the narrow lanes to call for help from neighbours. This strategy usually works every time, but this time condition is different. Because of police barricade, she cannot go out to seek help of neighbours.
In Vadodara, a man, working with a private electronics company, breaks his 24-year-old wife’s spine after she defeated him in online ludo. He mercilessly thrashed her as she defeated her consecutively in the game.” (Anusua Singh Roy, Nandini Sen and Subatra Sankar Bagchi, 2021, Gender-based Violence in India in Covid-19 Lockdown, Journal of comparative literature and aesthetics (https://jcla.in/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/JCLA-44.1-Spring-2021_Anusua-Nandini-Subrata.pdf)).
The National Family Health Survey (Ministry of health and family welfare, National Family Health Survey, 2019-2021 (https://www.dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR375/FR375.pdf)) data reveals that gender-based violence is not understood as a crime, rather 42% men think it is justified and 52% women think it is alright for her husband to have violent tendencies towards her. What is more unfortunate is that this is the reality for many women and help is not accessible to them. Less than 1% of domestic violence victims seek police help and psychological support. What already was a prevalent crime becoming more perilous. The already suffering victim, now lived under the constant worry and fear of what could trigger her husband to cause more harm. Every word spoken was weighed carefully. The people and walls which were once meant to protect her, became her constant source of pain and tragedy.
The covid-19 pandemic brought with it unprecedented challenges beyond global health crises. It exposed and intensified a hidden epidemic: domestic violence. While lockdown paused lives, some families came together while the others broke apart even more. This stark contrast revealed the dark reality and spine-chilling stories of countless victims. ‘Home’, a word often associated with safety, became a prison of fear and constant anxiety.
This crisis calls for a change, an urgent societal recognition, rigorous enforcement of laws and an accessible support system. A collective and committed effort must be made by us as a society to dismantle this deep- rooted practice of domestic violence which has somehow become a norm, and only then, we can hope to transform these private tragedies into public resolve and real change.
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