The Effects of COVID-19 on Domestic Violence Against Women

From economies to education systems, the COVID-19 pandemic has been detrimental to the improvement of many sectors and gave rise to an array of issues. One of the most overlooked issues that came to rise at an alarming rate during the pandemic was an increase in sexual and physical violence toward women and the overall deterioration of the quality of life in many parts of the world for women. According to The United Nations Development Programme, 243 million women and girls worldwide suffered from physical/sexual violence in 2020. A number of countries have even proclaimed a state of emergency over gender-based violence and femicides. In France, reports of domestic violence increased by 30%, in Turkey 36 women were killed just in July 2020, and Quebec reported 10 women killed in the first quarter of 2021 versus 12 women in all of 2020.

To prevent the virus from spreading any further, almost the whole world went under lockdown with restrictions on travelling and curfews. This forced domestic abuse victims to be in close proximity to their abusers. Some women who have resorted to working as sex workers due to losing their jobs are exposed to further abuse and sexual harassment. In addition to that, an increase in the rate of child marriage can be seen in many parts of the Indian Subcontinent after the pandemic. Even if support is available for victims of domestic and sexual abuse, it is not enough due to the sudden increase in the rate of violence toward women.