Add to the new coronavirus a further public health crisis: Based on the growing research, domestic violence is an opportunistic infection that flourishes in pandemic settings. A sociologist at the Bristol University, said there was every reason to expect that the restriction that would be enforced to prevent the virus from spreading would have such an effect. Domestic violence increases as families, such as Christmas and a summer break, spend more of their time together. On Sunday, the United Nations urged urgent action to eliminate domestic abuse globally. “When they respond to the pandemic I urge all governments to put the safety of women first,” Secretary-General António Guterres said on Twitter.
Domestic abuse is a worldwide issue that reaches both national and socio-economic, cultural, racial, and class differences. Not only is this problem geographically distributed, but it also has a broad impact which makes it normal and acceptable. Homeland violence is widely distributed, deeply embedded and seriously affects the health and well-being of women. Their survival is morally indefensible. Its costs are substantial for individuals, medical systems, and society. But there has not been such a widespread and so little understanding of any other key public health issue. The National Family Health Survey-III conducted in 29 States in 2005-06 revealed that at some point in their life a significant proportion of married women have been physically or sexually assaulted by their spouses. The poll showed that 37.2% of “violence in women” after marriage across the country. The most violent was Bihar, with an abuse rate of 59 percent against married women. Strangely, more than the State’s backward villages 63 percent of such events were recorded by metropolitan households. Following it were Madhya Pradesh (45.8%), Rajasthan (46.3%), Manipur (43.9%), Uttar Pradesh (42.4%), Tamil Nadu (41.9%). (40.3 percent ). It also undermines the social, economic, psychological, spiritual, and emotional well-being of the victim, the perpetrators, and society as a whole. The maladies of women are largely caused by domestic violence.
Multisectoral response to abuse must be effective, the immediate practical needs of women being abused must be addressed, the long-term monitoring of violence and assistance offered, and the cultural standards, attitudes, and legal requirements that foster acceptance and encourage violence against females, and the full enjoyment of the rights and freedoms of women must be focused. The health sector has an exceptional ability to tackle violence against women, especially through services of reproductive health that most women have access to at some time in their life. But it is far from fulfilling this promise.