COVID fallout: New study reveals 6.5% Kashmir women experienced domestic violence during lockdown

SRINAGAR:  A new study has revealed that 6.5 percent of women experienced domestic violence during two COVID waves in Srinagar.

Conducted by the Department of Community Medicine, Government Medical College, Srinagar, the study revealed that the impact of the Covid lockdown and stay at home have overall increased the misery of those who were already facing the trauma of domestic violence.

The online study using Google forms was conducted by Sabira Aalia Dkhar, Ruqia Quansar, and S.M. Salim Khan of the Department of Community Medicine. The study was published in the International Journal of Advanced Research (IJAR) a few days ago.

“Sample size was calculated based on a recent study on domestic violence which showed an increase of 5% during the pandemic. The sampling technique was convenient purposive sampling. We had 92 participants. Out of which 42 were married women. Around 31 were of the age group 31-40,” the study said.

About 16 out of 92 said they have experienced domestic violence. Out of 16, 6  experienced abuse during Covid, while 10 said it started before the pandemic. All 16 women had confided about this to someone. Ten of them had never sought help. Six of them had received some kind of assistance.

“Domestic violence leaves the scar of a lifetime which makes it hard to forget and forgive. Though several studies show how domestic violence is dominant. It needs immediate action, to screen women for abuse, integrate gender-sensitive approach in healthcare services, and create community awareness,” the study said.

Dr. Ruqia Quansar, co-author of the study said, since it was a sensitive issue, not many people came forward. “Therefore we used Google forms. We took a sample size of 92 and analyzed them. Ten people were already experiencing domestic violence. During the lockdown, the intensity increased.  Six females especially experienced domestic violence during the pandemicWewe followed WHO guidelines. WHO defines domestic violence as mental, physical, and even verbal abuse,” she said.

Dr. Ruqia said frustration and job loss were some of the reasons that people vent their anger on females. “Most of the time male folks were confined to homes during the lockdown. There was frustration and some had also lost jobs. These were some of the reasons. Violence was perpetuated from the members of the family like brother, husband, and others,” she said.