Women, Victimization, and Covid-19 an Intensified Domestic Abuse amidst Covid-19


Dr. Umang Gupta
Assistant Professor, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Banasthali Vidyapith Newai, Tonk, India
DOI : https://doi.org/10.58806/ijirme.2023.v2i4n01

Abstract

COVID-19 pandemic has forced millions of people across the globe to restrict them under home quarantine. While lockdown was imposed for health and safety reasons for its citizens; it has exacerbated numerous socio-economic issues like rising in Domestic Violence cases and its complaints in India. Due to the increase in Domestic Violence cases in India, the Government of India in 2005 passed the ‘Domestic Violence Act’ that deepened work for the public health issue. The main goal of this research is to examine the available cases of DV in India during quarantine and infer the reasons for them. The data show that unemployment and dissatisfaction as a result of limited access to and/or availability of alcohol following a long prohibition are the major causes of increased DV. Nonetheless, establishing a relationship between DV and lockdown is now difficult due to a lack of data. Domestic Violence Act, it is said, has failed to reduce DV instances in India not just during a lockdown, but also before and after lockdown. This report recommends a large-scale national study based on data from government agencies that track domestic violence complaints.

Keywords:

Covid-19, Domestic Violence, Gender-Based Violence, Government Agencies, Women.

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