These two searches “How to control your woman” and “How to hit woman so no one knows” are googled 165 million times amidst Covid 19 lockdown across the globe. These are not simple searches but it manifests a disturbing trend on domestic violence and femicide. Several studies during Covid-19 show that there is a sharp escalation in the number of domestic as well as physical violence on women and girls. As per the UN, women consist half of the world’s population.
Currently, they are fighting with two pandemics to survive. One is Covid-19 pandemic and another one is shadow pandemic. The second pandemic is applicable to millions of women who are trapped at home with known perpetrators or with abusers and have been subjected to suffer sexual and physical violence.
In order to create an awareness on violence against women, this year the State Population Report-2021 under the flagship of United Nation Population Fund (UNPF) was released. This year’s theme is “My Body Is My Own.” In a nutshell, the report focuses upon women rights on their bodily autonomy and self-determination. Depriving a single woman of bodily autonomy is unethical and it leads to inequalities, violence and gender discrimination. Bodily autonomy is simply defined in two folds such as power to decide and empower to make choices about your body. It is important for woman dignity. A woman like a man can decide to select partners, when and with whom they can live or have sex.
A woman can take a decision to when or whether to become pregnant or not. A woman can have all the freedom to select the health services when she needs. Sorry to say, it is true that still millions of women don’t have such dignity with them.
Though subjugation of women is being debated for long, their condition has worsened particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic. The bodily autonomy of women is severely under threat. Controlling women’s sexuality, regulating the women’s right to use contraception and dominating over women’s choice to avail healthcare are the three major concerns stated in State Population Report-2021. The most insular and violent form to control women’s sexuality is female genital mutilation or FGM. It is a form of practice where the genitals of a woman is cut, mutilated or destroyed. The FGM is not all about female anatomy.
It is beyond that. It is misrepresentation of female sexuality, an African form of women empowerment, a reflection of dominance, and a less documented fact to be discussed. It is also a taboo, a religious doctrine and a cultural behaviour. It is a process of an initiation ceremony to womanhood, a preparation for the painful childbirth, a mechanism to control female sexuality and an instrument of preventing women from adultery.
This practice is concentrated in 30 countries with the live victims of 200 million women. The practice is also found among Bohra community in India. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) target 5.3 is to eliminate the practice of FGM. Serious economic downturn and school closures are the tangible effects of Covid-19. Further, it is reported that these effects have a great repercussion on FGM practice. There is a rise of 2 million cases of FGM during the ongoing pandemic.
It is also reported that many African countries have changed their priority of action plans. The Governments now focus on Covid-19 mitigation plans on a war footing basis; so women violence issues need to be addressed till the pandemic is over.s
The ripple effect of Covid-19 is conspicuous on the child marriage and pregnancy. As per a report by a reputed medical journal Lancet, 2.5 million girls around the world are at risk of child marriage in the next five years because of Covid-19 pandemic. In India, it is revealed by an RTI application to the Union Ministry of Woman and Child Development that there is an increase by more than 33% in child marriages in India during the lockdown between the months of March and August 2020. Child marriage across the world is a crisis, a humanitarian crisis.
Odisha is also prepared to eliminate the social evil of child marriage during this Covid-19. Economic insecurity and job loss during Covid-19 are forcing the poor families to marry off their daughters to ease their burden. The State Strategy Action Plan of Odisha focuses to end child marriage completely by the end of 2030.
The Woman and Child Development Department of Odisha is monitoring the cases of child marriages across the State. According to this department, 3,007 villages in Odisha are declared as child marriage free on March 31. It is further reported by the UN report that 60% women from 57 developing countries (sample studies) don’t have rights to use contraceptives.
The report further reveals that there are many unwanted sex exchanged with women and girls for food and home during the Covid-19. In Kenya, 4,000 young girls got pregnant during the pandemic induced lockdown as stated by a report. Pregnant women suffer more during the pandemic due to restriction in travel, job loss of spouse or self and situational change.
There is also a hike in rape, marital rape and raping women suffering from disabilities during the Covid-19 pandemic. Surprisingly, the incidents of honour killings are in surge across the globe and in some States in India also. Tamil Nadu sees an upward trend in honour killing cases in this pandemic. Civil society Organisations who work to safeguard the interest as well to eliminate the violence against women and girls are less functional because of lack of funding. Approximately 12% of CSOs or NGOs in Asia and the Pacific region are completely closed due to economic fallout.
Zika and Ebola epidemics have taught us that women and children are at greater risk of exploitation and violence. The same is happening in Covid 19 pandemic. Still many women are trapped in their homes and looking for help. This is one of the harsh realities of Covid-19.
(Dr Parida is Assistant Professor, Sophitorium Group of Institutions, Khordha, Ph: 8456879522)