'Domestic violence increased during Covid-19 pandemic'

Domestic violence increased in many countries during Covid-19 pandemic, said Dr Ute Ritz-Deutch, Instructor at SUNY Cortland, State University of New York, and Area Coordinator of New York State at Amnesty International USA.

“Factors like people remaining quarantined at home and increase in job loss had led to increasing domestic violence,” Ute said.

She said during the Covid-19 pandemic, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) alone reached out to over 900 million survivors of domestic violence which highlights the extent of domestic violence.

She was delivering a talk during a webinar on ‘Reproductive Choice of Women: A Fundamental Right’, organised by Department of Political Science-St Aloysius College under the initiative of National Commission of Women (NCW).

Ute said in developing countries one in three girls were married before 18 and everyday 30,000 girls were married to older men.

Daily about 800 women die of complications during childbirth across the world. According to WHO, 225 million women would like to avoid or delay pregnancy and do not have access to modern contraception, she said.

Often women are forced to marry and become pregnant against their will. Globally, one in three women experience domestic sexual violence, she stressed.

According to UNFPA, every hour nine women are murdered either by their partner or family across the world which highlights the gross violence. She said the Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action of the Fourth World Conference (on Women 1995) had declared that, “Women have the right to have control over and decide freely on matters related to their sexuality, including their sexual and reproductive health free of coercion and violence.”

States should enact laws, policies to assure women have access to reproductive information and services. There is a need for public education to raise awareness about women’s reproductive rights, she added.

Ute said that women and girls should be treated with dignity. Women should find their strength, passion and work on it. Men and boys should understand that by treating others respectfully, their own lives will be enriched, she added.

College Principal Dr Praveen Martis urged public to become gender sensitive and understand the fact that all are equal. There is a need to live with human dignity, so that we can live in harmony.

Dr Rita Noronha, Director Centre for Development Studies and Education talked on ‘Reproductive Rights of Women – An Area for Gender Sensitisation,’ Dr Bijoya Roy, Assistant Professor at Centre for Women’s Development Studies - New Delhi, spoke on ‘Reproductive Rights and Public Health’ and Flavia Agnes, women’s rights lawyer on ‘Reproductive Rights of Women and Indian Constitution’.

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