Domestic violence on the rise during lockdown. Here's what every victim should know

Adding to the long list of crisis that the pandemic and the lockdown has hurled at us, one new and developing evil has completely gone unnoticed until various reports started pouring in from different corners of the world. According to a New York Times report, "Add another public health crisis to the toll of the new coronavirus: Mounting data suggests that domestic abuse is acting like an opportunistic infection, flourishing in the conditions created by the pandemic." Yes, cases of domestic violence across the world are increasing at an alarming rate.

This rising societal and domestic evil caught the attention of the United Nations and the intergovernmental organization that aims to maintain international peace and security called for urgent actions from citizens to fight against it. "I urge all governments to put women’s safety first as they respond to the pandemic,” posted Secretary General António Guterres on Twitter.

India is no exception to this unfortunate growing trend of domestic violence during the lockdown. As per India's National Commission for Women (NCW) data, there has been a surge in the number of domestic violence cases in India. According to their record, between February 27 and March 22, 396 domestic violence complaints had been registered. But there was a noticeable growth in the number of such cases in the following month when the lockdown was it's peak; between March 23 and April 16, 587 domestic violence cases were registered.

In India, there are mainly three laws that deal with domestic violence—the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, the Dowry Prohibition Act and Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code. All these laws protect women from dowry demands, physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, economic abuse, threat, psychological abuse etc., all of which count as domestic violence.

The abuser takes advantage of the victim's helplessness and when a person is cooped up with the abuser during the lockdown, it would make him feel more powerful. And the worst thing is a lot of victims aren't even aware of the fact that they are being abused. Acceptance is the first step towards protection. Once you accept the reality, then the rest falls into place.

Your first action should be reaching out to the rightful authority and lodging a complaint against the abuser. However, it might not be the easy thing to do, especially during the lockdown. There are also a lot of helplines and NGOs that deal with domestic violence. Look for helpline numbers or NGOs that work in your area.

In most cases, abusers of domestic violence try to isolate the victim. He manipulates her to break all ties with friends and family so that she could not reach out to anyone during her hour of need. It is therefore very important that the victim stays in touch with family and friends no matter what. Never let your abuser isolate you from the rest of the world.