Rethinking About Women Safety During Pandemic
Feeling suffocated and isolated, being gripped with the fear of the unknown and the uncertainty of the future, feelings of helplessness, are the problems that many people have been experiencing during this pandemic. Although the preliminary reports indicated that the COVID-19 virus poses a maximum risk to the elderly and those with comorbidities, a major aspect of the disease and the impact was missing- it impacts on the overall well-being and mental health of people in general and women in particular. With schools and colleges closed, exams withheld/postponed, no direct interaction with friends and no opportunity for outdoor activities, the young kids have been badly affected so have their mothers.
Not knowing how to express their condition, many youngsters are trying to just sleep it off. That has led to the parents complaining about the irregular habits of their kids and changing sleep patterns. What everybody fails to realise is that all including the young and the old, are going through a novel situation which no one was prepared for. But it appears that women never got the chance to say they were unprepared to handle this uncertain situation and have just carried on with their duties of caring for everybody in the family. No feminist literature would help as most women don’t get helping hands for the household chores, except for a few cases. Disease outbreaks affect women and men differently, and this pandemic has made existing inequalities all the more visible through the ways they try to cope with the situation, with increased responsibilities.
To understand the impact of COVID-19 on people in general and women in particular, we need to understand the very situation and condition of women in Odisha, both rural and urban, that existed even before the pandemic. With very little or no community mental health care, most of the individuals don’t know where to find the solution to many of their social and psychological issues, barring a few extreme cases. While the world is facing a health crisis with people getting affected in diverse ways, the gaps in our system are also being highlighted as systems that protect women and girls, including community structures, may have been weakened with the focus shifting to the virus and its life-threatening properties. In such a panic situation, we seem to have forgotten about the most vulnerable ones, the women who were already victims of violence by their own family members and are helplessly trapped within the boundaries of their own home, which have failed to provide them with a sense of security.
Whatever cases have come to our notice during the lockdown, it has been observed that the previously psychologically abused women are now complaining about physical violence and sexual abuse, too. The men are giving the explanation that it’s too much for them to handle the financial and mental stress because of the lockdown. Such women get confused and are trapped in a cycle of self-doubt, tension, and power control which gives rise to many mental health concerns like depression and anxiety and fear of rejection. The fear of the stigma attached to reporting their personal life and mental health issues stops them from seeking support. Interestingly, one of my clients said with a big sigh, “I wish we were taught about the various help and supports available for women like us who are trapped in a situation like me”. It takes time for them to realise that it’s not okay for their partners to behave in ways which harm their overall wellbeing. As they are experiencing abuse and love from their partner, they learn to associate abusive language with love. Thus, instead of trying to stop it or report it, they develop the rationalization of calling it normal to minimise its effect on them and try to feel less miserable. Women opt to stay with abusive partners for many reasons like, for emotional attachment, to avoid psychological distress, due to their financial dependence, or fearing that separation will anger their partners more and they might try to harm them and their child or loved ones physically.
Research findings from other countries also report that Covid-19 has presented a scenario of increased incidents of family abuse, intimate partner violence, and problems in reporting and seeking help as the victims are living with the fear of being caught complaining. With diminished community support, disconnection from social circles, women are experiencing tremendous stress. Those who are already coping with such circumstances, run the risk of developing mental health issues. With the low availability of certified mental health professionals, the situation looks grim with increasing rates of violence against women and the number of distress calls increasing drastically.
Though we are not in a position to report about the statistics of such cases, the severity and seriousness of individual cases that are being reported calls for immediate action. In times of crisis such as this outbreak, women and girls may be at a higher risk of intimate partner violence and other forms of domestic violence due to increased tensions in the household. Women being the primary caretakers in our social system, be it her parental house or in-laws’ house, they are spreading themselves thin as they bear the burden of household responsibilities. With less or no financial independence, women are being forced to stay in abusive relationships because of the movement restrictions imposed for the pandemic. The way women have learned to feel dependent on the male members of the society for various reasons over the years in our social system, it has limited their decision making power regarding their own safety and autonomy. They have not been trained to be independent. Dealing with the blames aimed at them for the smallest of mistakes and continuous fault-finding lowers their self-esteem in normal times. And in such testing times, it becomes difficult to stay with their perpetrators under the same roof.
Even in the 21st century, visible and invisible ways of exploitation and abuse remain with women throughout their lives in some form or the other. At this crucial period of the pandemic, let us not forget about those women who might be under tremendous pressure due to the violence against them and might be trying to reach out for help. Individuals and communities must be sensitized about Covid-19’s effects on women and should work collectively towards addressing long-standing inequalities.
