By: Asad Mumtaz
Covid -19 hits world’s economy , our social and cultural customs but the more terrible is that violence are increased in the period of covid-19 and lockdown. Humanity are facing inhuman behavior.
According to the World Health Organization, one out of three women in the world experience physical or sexual violence during their lifetime. The situation is even graver in times of crisis.
Extended periods of quarantine breed anxiety and depression. When people feel powerless in one area of their lives, they often seek to establish more power over other areas. This is particularly alarming in situations of domestic violence because domestic abuse is, essentially, an effort by one partner to dominate and establish psychological, emotional, physical and sexual control over the other partner. And Domestic violence increased all over the world including Europe , British and USA too.
Less than two weeks after the lockdown was imposed in France, reports of domestic violence around the country increased by more than 30 per cent. In the United Kingdom, the rate of domestic violence killings has reportedly doubled since March. In India, the National Commission for Women has recorded a surge in calls to its domestic violence hotline during the lockdown.
To mitigate the potentially devastating costs of increasing violence at home, governments must protect vulnerable women and children even as they try to curb the pandemic.
There is little doubt that Pakistan — which has always been an extremely dangerous place for women — is experiencing the grave ‘shadow pandemic’ of domestic violence as the numbers of Covid-19 cases rise everyday.
Government departments have not shared whether significant increases in domestic violence complaints or incidents have been recorded. It is not clear whether any systematic monitoring is even taking place.
According to WHO, approximately 38pc of all women’s murders are committed by an intimate partner, and Pakistan has one of the highest rates of domestic violence in the world. while police records show that 399 cases of murder against women have been reported/registered in the same period. Similarly, police records in Sindh show an increasing trend in violence against women with some ten cases of karo-kari registered in March alone.
According to pakistani Media more than sixty attacked on trans in different cities and Six Trans killed in last two moths.And Situation against Children violence against child are two persent in pakistan in last two months .
This crisis has deepened the economic and gender-based inequalities, making millions of women and children vulnerable and at a heightened risk of violence around the world. Many countries have reported a significant surge in domestic violence during lockdown.
We propose adopting a gender-responsive strategy to combat COVID-19 that includes voices of women, at all levels of society, in decision-making processes and response initiatives. This would ensure that the vital services that are critical to the needs of women are made available and that they continue to receive essential services including health care amidst this crisis.
To make the gender gaps visible, UN Women has recommended the use of sex-disaggregated data, including data that can capture the differences in infection rates, economic impacts, burden of care, and incidence of domestic violence and sexual violence.
Public awareness programs and campaigns that can sensitize public on gender issues amidst this pandemic and interventions that engage men as well as religious leaders in the conversation may also prove beneficiary.
Something I have seen an Organistaion named Ujala it worked in different cities of Sindh with aims to Increase quality of information and education to stop gender based violence, early age marriages, child abuse, stigma, discrimination and attitudes related to reproductive health towards young people, women and marginalized groups, as well as Increased capacity of decision makers, young people, and women and marginalized groups to make safe and informed decisions about their health and learn skills through Life Skills Based Education (LSBE) .
COVID-19 is testing humanity in several ways. We have an opportunity to do this right
