The unique and unprecedented circumstances surrounding the coronavirus pandemic have locked the world’s citizens within the confines of their homes to prevent the spread of the virus. Some are working from home; several are working reduced hours for less money; others have been furloughed, some without pay; and many have been fired and are receiving minimal financial aid to support them during these trying times. Regardless of people’s employment status, the coronavirus and the ensuing lockdowns have had a heavily destabilizing effect on finances and mental health. As lockdowns are extended and these stresses are exacerbated, COVID-19 has thrust the world into a full-blown crisis, and in times of crisis, one group disproportionately bears the brunt: women.
The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that 35% of women worldwide have experienced sexual violence, mostly from an intimate partner. In fact, in the previous 12 months alone, 243 million women and girls aged 15 to 49 have reported being subjected to sexual or physical violence by an intimate partner. The true numbers are likely much higher, given that only roughly 40% of women report such incidents.
These numbers rise exponentially during crises as women are pushed into close quarters with their partners for indefinite periods of time. For instance, in South Sudan, a conflict zone, more than 50% of women reported experiencing intimate partner physical violence, sexual violence, or both. While depleting finances and deteriorating mental health may be contributing factors to domestic violence, a more likely explanation is that more men have more time to do what so many other men were already doing prior to the crisis: abusing women, only now more frequently and with greater impunity. For women, there is no winning. In any given situation, they have little to no agency over their own bodies.
During crises, men in positions of power abuse their authority to commit even greater atrocities against women with even less oversight, while men who have been disempowered seek to regain some semblance of control by humiliating and oppressing those who are below them on the social hierarchy. Crises, be it war or a pandemic, propel women into a world with unparalleled dangers and with little recourse or chance to escape.
It is for these reasons that United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres amended his calls for a “global ceasefire” during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, clarifying that this peace is not only contingent on the absence of war but also that violence isn’t confined to the battlefield. Guterres urged peace within homes to protect women, noting a “horrifying global surge in domestic violence” during the ongoing pandemic.
The number of calls to helplines for domestic abuse cases in Lebanon and Malaysia has doubled during the ongoing coronavirus lockdown. In China, the number of domestic violence cases reported to police stations during the month of February was three times higher than at the same time last year. In India, too, the National Women's Commission (NCW) reports that the number of domestic violence cases is increasing every day. A similar situation is unfolding in Mexico, where 200 femicides have taken place since quarantine measures were put in place. In Colombia’s capital city, Bogotá, the city’s mayor chief noted that, during the lockdown, all crime statistics had decreased except calls to the domestic violence hotline, which reported a 225% increase. In fact, days after the lockdown was implemented, a man in Cartagena shot his wife, her sister, and her mother dead. Ladysmith, an organization that runs a hotline for women in the Colombian city of Cucuta, has seen a steep increase in messages from Venezuelan migrant women. Peru has recorded an increase in the sexual abuse of girls. In Argentina, the rate of femicide has increased and the number of calls to the domestic violence helpline has increased by 40%.
These incidents are not restricted to developing countries, either. Gender-based violence is a global epidemic and increases during crises across the world. In Australia, search engine analytics show that searches for domestic violence help are at their highest point in five years now that a nationwide lockdown has been implemented. The Catalan regional government in Spain has reported a 20% rise in calls to its domestic violence helpline, while Cyprus noted a 30% increase. Refuge, the United Kingdom’s (UK) largest domestic abuse charity, has reported a 700% increase in calls per day, while the government’s national helpline recorded a 120% increase. France, too, reported a 30% rise in domestic violence cases. Furthermore, the United States’ (US) National Domestic Violence Hotline has received in excess of 2,000 calls from individuals who cited the lockdown as a “factor in their abuse”.
In some areas, distress calls and reporting of domestic violence has, in fact, decreased. However, any deviation from the norm is a cause for concern, not celebration. For example, Shakti Shalini, an Indian NGO that supports victims of gender-based violence, is receiving only five to six calls a week, as opposed to the 25-30 calls they were receiving prior to the lockdown. Dolly Singh, a counselor at the NGO, remarked, “Survivors are staying twenty-four-seven with abusers, so it’s very difficult to talk and ask for help.” She added that callers often “report in installments”, disconnecting the phone when “someone shows up” and calling back later, illustrating their fear of reporting. In Italy, too, calls to helplines have dropped, but, luckily, many women are resorting to less visible means of reporting, such as text messaging and e-mails. In the US, the National Domestic Violence Hotline reported a decrease in the average number of calls per day from between 1,800 and 2,000 to around 1,700. Domestic violence isn’t diminishing. In fact, it appears that it has risen and that it is now more difficult for women to report it.
Women are now trapped with their abusers, who are watching their every move. Men may place limitations on women’s access to phones and thus their ability to access police, justice, and social services. Moreover, these services themselves have been disrupted. The healthcare system is already overburdened and understaffed, and the police are largely focused on ensuring that lockdown restrictions are being followed. Reshma Singh, the state coordinator at the Jharkhand unit of the Association for Advocacy and Legal Initiatives (AALI) said that women have little confidence that it will be of any use for them to complain to anyone during the lockdown, believing that “nobody will be able to rescue them”.
Meanwhile, several domestic shelters have closed, been repurposed as health facilities to treat the COVID-19 patients, or reached maximum capacity due to increased domestic violence. The state of Rajasthan in India, for instance, has 39 government centers, labeled ‘Mahila Salah & Suraksha Kendra’, which revolve around women's issues. After a nationwide lockdown was announced, all 39 centers were shut down. Moreover, informal support systems such as neighbors and friends have faded due to social distancing norms.
In response to these uniquely challenging and distressing circumstances, the UN has recommended: ensuring undisrupted, if not increased, access to helpline services, with a greater emphasis on non-verbal forms of communication, such as SMS and e-mail; “increasing investment in online services and civil society organizations”; ensuring that “judicial systems continue to prosecute abusers”; “setting up emergency warning systems in pharmacies and groceries”; “creating safe ways for women to seek support without alerting their abusers”; “declaring shelters as essential services”; not releasing “prisoners convicted of violence against women”; and running public awareness campaigns.
Encouragingly, several countries have already implemented such measures. For instance, women in Spain and France can request a “Mask 19” at pharmacies, a code word that signals to pharmacists that they must contact the authorities. Spain also announced that women will not be fined for violating lockdown restrictions if it is to report abuse. Similarly, the UK insists that all support systems remain “operational”, and that women should feel free to contact the police if they feel unsafe. The NCW in India created a WhatsApp number for women to report domestic violence to complement existing complaint links and e-mails. However, given the dwindling or otherwise occupied support systems, such measures do not inspire confidence, particularly considering that domestic violence continues to rise in the face of these offers of help.
Infrastructural responses must provide more than just a sounding board for victims of domestic abuse to vent their frustrations or disclose their secrets. Ultimately, in a world where misogyny is ubiquitous and deeply entrenched, one of the greatest impediments to gender equality or even limiting gender-based violence is the financial dependence of women on men. This situation is further complicated by the current crisis, which has rendered scores of women–many of whom are disproportionately represented in the informal labor market, which prevents access to continued financial support–even more economically vulnerable.
It’s not as if the lifting of lockdown restrictions will suddenly offer women avenues for escape, either. For example, after the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, “men’s income returned to what they had made pre-outbreak faster than women’s income”, thus extending women’s financial dependence and vulnerability. At present, there appears to be little indication of when lockdown restrictions will be lifted, but if the 2014 Ebola crisis is any indication, women will return to a new paradigm that is seemingly even more inescapably misogynistic and dangerous.
Women’s Safety During COVID-19: A Parallel Pandemic
Domestic abuse and gender-based violence have spiked across the globe during this crisis.
April 25, 2020
IMAGE SOURCE: FEMINISM IN INDIAIn India, several domestic shelters have closed, been repurposed as health facilities to treat the COVID-19 patients, or reached maximum capacity due to increased domestic violence.