Month: December 2020

The end of a year is a good time to take stock – just how much we’ve achieved, how much more must be done and, this year in particular, how much is in danger of being lost

We do know that the pandemic’s economic impact has been higher on women. At the end of the year, 13% fewer women (2% fewer men) than the previous year were employed, according to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy.(HTPHOTO)

In a number-crunching Covid world—infections, cases, deaths — here are some others, less grandiose but significant all the same: Seven, eight, nine.

Seven is the number of states in India where more than 25% of women are subject to violence by a spouse. Eight are the states where sex ratio has fallen and in nine states an increasing number of women told the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) that they were sexually abused as children.

The first phase of NFHS 2019-20 paints a sweeping portrait of the health, economic and gender status of 22 states and Union territories. It ties in with the 2019 crime figures released earlier by the National Crime Records Bureau — a 7% increase in rape, molestation, domestic violence, acid attacks and all the other crimes that group together under the generic head, “crimes against women”.

At the end of the year, what does India’s gender report card look like? There’s some cause for cheer — more women using hygienic protection during menstruation, over 50% increase in women who own and operate their own bank accounts and even a decline in spousal violence.

But it’s a decline that’s simply not enough. In seven states, spousal violence remains unacceptably high with an inexplicable surge in Karnataka with over 40% reporting domestic violence, up from 20.6% five years ago. Bihar’s numbers are down but at 40%, still too high to warrant celebration streamers.

Data does not account for the human stories and how the pandemic threatens to sweep away hard-won gender gains. Chief among these is the education of girls. Once the pandemic figures are counted, activists fear we are in for a roll-back. Far too many families are under economic strain and far too many girls without access to digital learning are being married off early, report NGOs like Educate Girls. We’re in the dark about the impact of the lockdown on access to contraception and safe abortion.

We do know that the pandemic’s economic impact has been higher on women. At the end of the year, 13% fewer women (2% fewer men) than the previous year were employed, according to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy. So, what does India’s already precarious female labour force participation look like?

The end of a year is a good time to take stock — just how much we’ve achieved, how much more must be done and, this year in particular, how much is in danger of being lost. The data is only a hint. One option would be to do nothing. But, this could “negatively influence both the economic and social lives of women, as well as economic growth more broadly,” warns a McKinsey report. On the other hand, “investing in women and girls in the recovery represents a significant opportunity to improve gender equality and drive inclusive economic growth.”

We have seen the signs. The question: What are we going to do about it?

Namita Bhandare writes on gender
The views expressed are personal

To stop gender-based violence, target attitudinal change through interventions in education, ad campaigns and other behaviour change communication

A study of violence during the lockdown by Saravana Ravindran and Manisha Shah published on(AP)

Head bleeding, the woman had managed to get to a police station in Delhi only to be told to come back with a mask. Elsewhere, another victim of domestic violence was chastised: “People are dying and you want to file a case for such a small issue.”

The two incidents, documented in a seven-state survey, At Home, At Risk by a consortium of eight non-governmental organisations (NGOs), highlight the problem of domestic violence redressal during the pandemic. There has been a massive surge in gender-based violence globally. In India, the National Commission of Women (NCW) reported an exponential rise, the largest in a decade, noting that a third of 13,410 complaints, including 4,350 of domestic violence, were filed during the lockdown.

Cases of marital violence shot up by 99% during the lockdown compared to pre-pandemic times, while violence against trans-people was up 92% and natal violence 50%.

Post-lockdown there is a distressing lack of data; only anecdotal evidence. “Financial difficulties, lack of work, shortages of basic necessities and mental stress is causing a very tense environment at home,” says Krati Prakash, Breakthrough India’s Uttar Pradesh head.

Violence against women is hardly new. National Crime Records Bureau data for 2018, the latest year for which it is available, recorded the murder of 8,500 women by a spouse or family member — more than 23 women a day — in addition to 1,03,372 reported domestic violence cases. Those that go unreported are anybody’s guess.

And yet, the pandemic might provide an opportunity to fight this ingrained violence with renewed vigour. If you’re a bystander, says Breakthrough’s Sohini Bhattacharya, you can intervene without putting yourselves in harm’s way. Underutilised Nirbhaya funds can prop up one-stop centres and shelter homes.

A study of violence during the lockdown by Saravana Ravindran and Manisha Shah published on IdeasForIndia finds a link between attitudes and domestic violence.

In districts where men justified the use of violence to a National Family Health Survey in 2015-16, the researchers found much higher cases of violence during the pandemic. In districts where women justified violence, reporting was the least.

There’s an important lesson for policymakers here. To stop gender-based violence, target attitudinal change through interventions in education, ad campaigns and other behaviour change communication.

The global 16-day campaign against gender violence that ended on December 10 reminds us of the remaining 349 days of hard work teaching young boys and girls why violence is unacceptable.

Concerned about the peak in violence, in April a group of NGOs wrote to Niti Aayog, NCW and the ministry for women and child welfare asking that helplines and support services be declared as “essential” during the lockdown. To date, the NGOs have no clarity on whether this was done.

Namita Bhandare writes on gender

The views expressed are personal