Violence against women and its way out
- Mohit Matta
- May 25, 2020
- 7 min read
Violence can occur in many forms. The most practiced form of abuse is Domestic Violence. Most cases of domestic violence and abuse have been reported in rural areas rather than in urban areas.
By this article I will first try and analyze the conditions of women related crimes amidst the outbreak of COVID-19. I have then dealt with government initiatives and the laws made by the government. After this I have provided for various helpline numbers through which help can be found by women. Coming to end I have concluded the article based on some solutions and my personal opinion.
Differentiating abuse with gender was the need of the hour for us to survive a better lifestyle but it sure can be said that men are also being abused in this day and age. Women being treated as the weaker part of the society from a number of years created this need to differentiate the abuse and relating it with gender. Still it can not be rightly or fully said that the women are not being abused because the major part of crime rates against women involves cases of domestic violence and different types of abuses out of which a big portion of cases are not reported also.
A report says that 25% of women have experienced physical violence before the age of 15 years. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 (PWDVA), provides a definition of domestic violence that includes all forms of physical, emotional, verbal, sexual, and economic violence, and covers both actual acts of such violence and threats of violence. In addition, the PWDVA recognizes marital rape as well as covers harassment in the form of unlawful dowry demands as a form of abuse.
The different types of abuses are as under-
PHYSICAL ABUSE
Perhaps the most recognized form, physical abuse may include behaviors such as Hitting, slapping, punching, kicking, burning, strangulation, damaging personal property, refusing medical care and/or controlling medication, Coercing partner into substance abuse and or Use of weapons
EMOTIONAL ABUSE
Emotional abuse occurs when an intimate partner seeks to control his/her loved one by name-calling, insulting, blaming the partner for everything, extreme jealousy/insecurity, intimidation, shaming, humiliating, isolation, controlling what the partner does and where the partner goes and or stalking.
SEXUAL ABUSE
Sexual abuse is not about sex. It is about power and includes any sexual behavior performed without a partner’s consent. Examples include forcing a partner to have sex with other people (human trafficking), pursuing sexual activity when the victim is not fully conscious or is afraid to say no, hurting partner physically during sex, Coercing partner to have sex without protection / sabotaging birth control.
TECHNOLOGICAL ABUSE
This form of abuse includes the use of technology to control and stalk a partner which can create emotional or mental abuse of the victim too. Technological abuse can happen to people of all ages, but it is more common among teenagers who use technology and social media to interact. This includes hacking into a partner’s email and personal accounts, using tracking devices in a partner’s cell phone to monitor their location, phone calls and messages, monitoring interactions via social media, demanding to know partner’s passwords (Yes people! That’s actually a type of abuse, Be aware!).
There are various types of abuses women go through every day. In a recent case of the ugly side of humanity, a 20-year-old girl was racially abused (harassed and assaulted) in Gurugram, Haryana. Then comes the abuse like which the COVID warriors are facing, recently a COVID warrior was abused and assaulted after her treatment and getting discharged from the hospital. This is not the only case where the warriors are being abused and it involves both men and women.
The different laws that protect have been explained in the following article. Kindly go through the link https://www.thelegalcartel.com/post/laws-that-protect-women
October 2017 saw a great movement known as the #WomenBycottTwitter when the women were silenced for speaking for their rights. Actress Rose McGowan’s twitter handle was suspended on the allegations of violating terms and policies when she came out against a famous director’s various cases of sexual harassment. After this, women all over the world became more aware of the various types of abuse.
In the wake of this government-mandated lock-downs the domestic violence cases have arisen rapidly. The UN Women terms it as “The Shadow Pandemic”, it has been witnessed in many countries like China, the UK, Spain, and India. Also called "Intimate Terrorism" which is a situation where the abuser can dictate and control all the actions and movements of women, with violence if needed. These conditions of lockdown have forced women and children to be confined with their abuser likely resulting in greater physical and emotional violence.
In China, Spain, Malaysia, France, Cyprus, Singapore, and India, the emergency number for domestic violence saw an upsurge in calls to its helplines since February and March, when the governments imposed lockdown. However this is one side of the coin, the other side remains in the countries which are poverty-ridden or where the outbreak has reached its limits. In these countries there is a sharp dip in the number of cases. Italy for example has reported 55% fewer calls.
The rise in cases of Domestic Violence, the government has taken up various steps for reaching out to victims all over the territory with better and easy connectivity by creating a special WhatsApp helpline number and has started to accept complaints via emails too. Some of the states have designed their own mechanisms as well with their own WhatsApp helpline numbers.
It is very important to note here that the inability of the state to address the concern of women even at the time of pandemic is a violation of the Fundamental Right to Life guaranteed under Article 21. In The case of “Francis Coralie Mullin Vs Union Territory Administration", the Apex Court had held and recognized the right to be free from physical violence. Also in another landmark judgment of "Ahemdabad Municipal Corporation Vs. Nawab Khan Gulab Khan ", it was guaranteed right against sexual and emotional abuse.
Many NGOs have started to work towards the eradication of this problem by helping the victims and reaching out to them, one such NGO is Swayam. Another NGO Shakti Shalini has started 24 Hour helplines. Various other countries have started to allocate Domestic Violence Shelters in essential services and have started allocating funds separately from the budget on this, the countries include Canada, Australia, France, and the UK. India needs these reforms for a better world for the abused women and stricter rules for the abusers.
“Corona didn’t break the system, Corona exposed a broken system.”
These times of lockdown have forced some women to live with their abusers which is in itself a very dangerous thing and may bring the abuser to again abuse the women and child. The women need to understand the signs of abuse for this. The signs/ red flags include -
Extreme jealousy
Isolating behavior
Controlling behavior
Intimidation and threats
Emotional manipulation
Physical force/abuse
Domestic violence is an increasing crime in today’s situation. Please share this.