key: cord-0070586-3pzj9ci2
authors: nan
title: Despite the Known Negative Health Impact of VAWG, India Fails to Protect Women from the Shadow Pandemic
date: 2021-11-29
journal: Asian J Psychiatr
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajp.2021.102958
sha: 0d1ef56c00c7e37e6de3c85fb672c1b5d16f9ab9
doc_id: 70586
cord_uid: 3pzj9ci2

nan

KEYWORDS: VAWG, Violence against Women and Girls, Sexual violence, Nirbhaya Fund, India.

With over 256 million infections and 5.1 million deaths worldwide as of November 19, 2021, COVID-19 has severely impacted people's physical, mental, and sexual health. Contrary to expectations, though, suicide rates were either stable or lower than expected (Tandon, 2021a). The gendered nature of the pandemic was visible everywhere. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the weak underbelly of the global economy and the unpreparedness of public healthcare systems (Tandon, 2021b).

COVID-19 was particularly harsh on women in South Asia, which also witnessed high infections and death rates. In Bangladesh, the government adopted the death penalty to curb rape (Sifat, 2020). In India, violence against women and girls (VAWG), particularly domestic violence (DV) increased, as stay-at-home locked women down with their sexual oppressors. Loss of jobs added to the vulnerabilities of women, particularly in homes affected by alcoholism and substance abuse (Vora et al., 2020).

VAWG has spurred psychological problems for women, such as depression, anxiety and perceived stress (Indu et al., 2021) . This trend is largely in line with the globally-documented negative impact of VAWG on health, including a US lifetime cost of rape estimated at USD 122,461 per victim (Peterson et al., 2017) and widespread mental health disorders.

Despite existing knowledge that natural disasters, including pandemics, were gendered, India failed to protect its women from violence on multiple planes, including individual, governmental and institutional levels.

In patriarchal India, female safety is associated with the security offered by the four walls. However, homes became unsafe for women during the lockdown, as work-from-home males vented their frustration and stress on their partners and children.

Suppose individuals failed to create safe havens at home. In that case, India has a surfeit of dedicated government institutions for disaster management and women, such as the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), the National Council for Women (NCW) and the Ministry for Women and Children. Though overall VAWG crime numbers fell during the pandemic, India failed to step-up support for its female population.

Between March-November 2020 (KPMG, 2020), the government announced three economic packages amounting to INR 24.35 trillion (USD 328.8 billion). Of this, about INR 300 million (USD 4.05 billion) was set aside for the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) account holders. The PMJDY is a financial inclusion program operated through banks. During COVID-19, 200-million female PMJDY account holders were supposed to receive INR 1500 (USD 20) in equal instalments over three months. However, 40 per cent of the account holders could not avail of these benefits, either because their accounts were dormant or they had limited access to banks (Patel et al., 2020) .

Similarly Institution-wise, the World Bank signed a USD 1-billion fast-track COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Project with India. However, none of it was for supporting women, the victims of the shadow pandemic. Among other things, this sum was meant to set up isolation wards-very similar to those where unsuspecting female victims were getting raped during the pandemic.

In sum, India needs a replicable template for national emergencies and normal circumstances to support its women from the horrors of VAWG. 

Domestic violence and psychological problems in married women during COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown: A community-based survey

India Government and institution measures in response to COVID-19

40% Of Jan Dhan Account Holders Could Not Access Govt's COVID-19 Relief: Survey [WWW Document

Lifetime Economic Burden of Rape Among US Adults