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Hidden & voiceless victims of Covid - 19
- It will not be proper, scarcely even delicate, to approach this topic without first recognizing the enormity of the subject. Six out of every one lac women are a victim of domestic abuse in India. And bringing you within the compass of the subject, these may all be only the reported cases. As the governments around the world undividedly resort to the extreme measure of locking down states to break the spread of coronavirus, it has put the lives of certain sections of the society at a greater risk.
- Women and children who were already the subjects of domestic violence are now being forced to live in with their abusers, with the frequent and awful certainty of getting harmed. The impropriety and unkindness of behavior unleashed on them now stand unabated. Authorities, activists and experts have warned that the pandemic will lead to a substantial increase in both mental & physical transgressions and therefore the domestic abuse rate. Furthermore, the lockdown has caused the suspension of services of community counsellors – the community counsellors are immensely vital for the overall development of women as they educate them and help them in becoming independent.
- The lockdown has made an abundance of leisure time available for the abuser along with restraining the women from stepping out of their houses. Therefore, the lockdown has immensely exposed the victims of gender-based violence to mental and physical breaches. Moreover, the economic fallout due to the coronavirus pandemic has also worsened the financial plight of households universally. Questionless, the lockdown has led to a sharp
decline in the income of individuals of certain work-groups. Moreover, the pandemic has not resulted in a decline of accruing liabilities of households. Thus, it would be correct to state that such trying times like these are likely to instigate an already abusive partner. - The victims of gender-based violence don’t have to suppress their voice against the abuse during the present crisis. For most of them, their education and knowledge of the polic/- legal system cannot be supposed adequate to their own guidance. However, here are several remedies available with them to safeguard them from the cruelties of their abuser.
- Around the world, governments have taken desperate measures to curb the rising rate of abuse against women.
- In India, the state governments have launched dedicated hotline numbers in the wake of this pandemic to protect the victims of such abuse. The same is committed by them both in paper and in spirit. However, there is a lot which the Indian government can learn from other countries like Spain & Greece.
- Spain has exempted the fine for women who are stepping out to report cases of domestic abuse. Similarly, officials in Greece have also set-up a campaign to assist the victims of gender abuse finding themselves helpless in lockdown situations.
- In India, women helplines & National Commission for Women are still active and predisposed to ensure that the required help is reaching the interior most corners of the country. If you are a domestic abuse victim, words will avail very little with you, however the problems you face, though elephantine, are not insuperable. Nevertheless, the government and the judiciary must bring their very instant and anxious attention to the enormous task, and jointly work to take more steps in order to combat the issue so that the faith of the people in the legal framework of the country remains intact. The authorities must resolve upon, and then execute.
