Srinagar- The summer capital—Srinagar has witnessed an increase of 6.5% in domestic violence cases when the entire world was grappling with the Coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown that followed, a new study has revealed.
The study has been carried out by the Community Medicine Department of the Government Medical College (GMC) Srinagar to assess the increase in domestic violence experienced by women especially during Covid-19.
A total of 92 women participated in the survey and has been carried out by HOD Community Medicine, Prof. Dr S Mohammad Saleem Khan, Sabira Aalia Dkhar and Ruqia Quansar
The group has chosen 92 participants, out of which 42 were married women.
Around 31 among them were in the age group of 31-40. About 16 women out of 92 narrated that they have experienced domestic violence, the study which has been published in International Journal of Advanced Research (IJAR) in January 2023 discloses.
According to the report, out of 16, six had experienced abuse during Covid while 10 said it started before the outbreak of the pandemic. All of the 16 women had confided about this to someone. 10 of them had never sought help, 6 who had sought help had received some kind of assistance.
As the COVID-19 hit the world in the year 2020 and 2021, many countries resorted to ‘stay at home’ orders and imposed lockdowns which was essential to contain the global pandemic but has brought along some unintended negative consequences.
The report argues that the couples were now more accessible and available hence more abuse was seen. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, emerging data and reports from those on the front lines have shown that all types of violence against women, particularly domestic violence, had increased.
It says that while many people preferred to stay quiet, some had sought out help and had confided about their conditions to someone close.
The reasons for them, according to the report, to stay quiet or not to confide could have been due to multiple reasons such as the thought of the future of their children, the shame of society, not being independent and the financial dependencies.
“The impact of Covid lockdown and stay at home has overall increased the misery of those who were already facing the trauma of domestic violence and also increased a certain number of those who never had experienced it before,” it says.
The report says based on recent study on domestic violence showed an increase of 5% during pandemic.
Approximately 63.1% women belonged to the age group of more than 30 years, 65.2% were postgraduates, 91.3% women were housewives and 54.3% women were married, the survey revealed.
It further reveals that almost 17.4% women reported to have experienced domestic violence in any form from their intimate partner or family member, out of which 6.5% were those who had started experiencing during Covid-19 times.
The report maintains that all the women who had experienced violence have confided in their friends or any trustworthy person, out of which 6.5% women have looked for any help to ease out this domestic violence. 17.4% who experienced violence were worried for their future. “Having children, societal pressure and no one to support their decision to divorce the person were the reasons cited for staying back with the perpetrator,” it says.
The report says that almost 91.3% women were housewives and only 8.7% women were working. “The women at home are at more risk of domestic violence as they are confined to their homes and the time of interaction with the abuser is more” the report said.
According to the study, the women who are not working have more stress at home during lockdown because there are restrictions for moving out and it causes more conflict and more chances of domestic violence.
About 54.3% women were unmarried and 45.7% women were married. The women folk at home are at risk of violence irrespective of marital status. Some young girls are even abused as the family members are more in favour of a male child and thus risking them at the hands of their family members as they are cursed and at times beaten up.
Almost 6.5% of women who experienced violence looked for help to save themselves from this abuse and exactly 6.5% of women even received the help especially from their family or close friends. 10.9% women never asked for help as they consider that this is their fate and this is normal.
“When asked about various reasons for not leaving their abusers or moving to a safer place, children at home was the common reason,” the report added.
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