Call to combat domestic violence during Covid-19 pandemic

PESHAWAR: The civil society organizations here on Monday called upon the national disaster management agencies to take measures to combat domestic violence at a time when the country is facing the coronavirus pandemic.

The civil society organizations (CSOs) expressed appreciation for the actions that the provincial government had taken to protect citizens from the COVID-19 pandemic. The CSOs appreciated the swift actions of frontline medical staff and security agencies to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

Data released by UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, said that 31 million additional cases of gender-based violence (GBV) were expected if the lockdown continued for six months.

It said that if the lockdown continued for every three months, an additional 15 million extra cases of gender-based violence were expected. The data said that Covid-19 would disrupt efforts to end child marriages, potentially resulting in an additional 13 million child marriages taking place between 2020 and 2030 that could have been averted otherwise.

According to the CSOs, while the root cause of GBV was unequal power relations, the Covid-19 pandemic was likely to increase the known triggers of GBV.

Indications from women’s rights organizations and GBV service providers in Pakistan and elsewhere around the world during Covid-19 showed increased risks of gender-based violence. Qamar Naseem Programme Coordinator Blue Veins and co-chair EVAW/G Alliance KP said, “Women and girls are more affected by pandemics generally because of the gender inequality evident in society at large.

“Women and girls trapped in abusive domestic situations are in jeopardy because of the lockdowns and restrictions on their movements imposed by governments to contain the spread of the pandemic. We call on all the provincial and national disaster management authorities to give attention to this urgent issue so that support to victims of domestic abuse are included in their Covid-19 response plans,” he said.

Sana Ahmad, a women rights activist from “Girls Got Voice, said, “It is clear from pandemic that during health crises, women typically take on

additional physical, psychological and time burdens as caregivers.

As such, it is critical that all actors involved in efforts to respond to Covid-19 - across all sectors - consider GBV within their programs planning and implementation.

Taimur Kamal, Coordinator of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Civil Society Network, said, “The government needs to allocate adequate funding and have careful planning of shelters for women and girls escaping domestic abuse.

It means increasing the level of online support services including help-lines to police and social services.

It is clear that health workers and police services are working at full stretch dealing with the consequences of this pandemic, but it is crucially important that they liaise with civil society organizations so that necessary support is provided to the increasing number of victims of domestic violence as a result of Covid-19.”