Violence against women grows alongside Covid-19 pandemic
Quarentine leaves women more vulnerable to their aggressors
Confinement is necessary to control the pandemic, but governments need to act.
The current pandemic of the new coronavirus requires us to look at humanity with a new lens. With almost 15 years of profession as a communicologist, and studying gender and race issues for about 7 years, this is certainly an unprecedented (and scary) situation for me. And, more than a situational novelty, what we live today turns our world upside down, pushing us to new forms of work. And it is from this point that I start.
The World Health Organization’s recommendation to reduce the incidence of Covid-19 is to remain in social isolation by staying home. This way, we flatten the contamination curve by reducing the circulation of the virus. Although the measure is necessary and should not be contradicted, other problems arise from this.
In an informal conversation with some friends, we were talking about the likely consequences of this crisis in addition to the deaths already counted and the likely ones we might have: Increases in unemployment rates, hunger, prison population for food theft, suicides and domestic violence.
This last point is already starting to show. Rio de Janeiro’s court has already registered a 50% increase in cases of violence against women. Such complaints represent about 80% of the cases attended at on-duty police stations.
This problem was expected. The Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights has already stated that staying at home for longer than usual could make cases of violence against women rise drastically.
The same prediction was made by UN Women, which organized a document presenting the consequences of the pandemic on gender issues. It states that:
In a context of emergency, the risks of violence against women and girls, especially domestic violence, increase due to increased tensions at home and may also increase women’s isolation. Survivors of violence may face additional obstacles to escape violent situations or access protection orders that save lives and/or essential services due to factors such as restrictions on quarantined movement. The economic impact of the pandemic can create additional barriers to making a partner become violent, as well as an increased risk of sexual exploitation for commercial purposes.
Such forecasts are possible thanks to mappings that allow us to see in detail the dynamics of violence.
The 2019 Women’s Dossier, from the Institute of Public Security, features graphs with horrifying data pointing out that women may be very vulnerable inside their own homes. In the study, we see, for example:
“In 2018, the home’s interior was included in 71.9% of the cases of rape of women in Rio de Janeiro, corroborating with the idea that women are more vulnerable to sexual violence in the private sphere rather than in public spaces. That is, of every ten rapes in the state in 2018, seven were committed at home. This face of sexual violence is also confirmed by the fact that at least 44.8% of the perpetrators of this crime are people very close to the victims (partners, ex-partners, parents, stepparents, relatives, acquaintances). ”
There is not, exactly, a safe place for women, as we know. But there is a popular imaginary that puts the aggressor almost always as a stranger, and the IPS document brings down this fantastic idea of the unknown violator.
“Most of the intentional homicides of women occurred at the home’s interior.”
It is important to note that, in the face of the global catastrophe we face, it is not prudent or responsible to suggest that women avoid social isolation. On the contrary, the recommendation is vehement and seen as a primary factor in containing the new coronavirus. It is up to the public authorities, therefore, to offer security for the adequate adherence to the recommendations, which includes enabling these women to comply with what is defined by the World Health Organization at locations where they are not susceptible.
The UN Women document sets out guidelines for policies to protect women and girls, including:
> Promote policy measures that make it possible to recognize, reduce and redistribute the burden of unpaid work that occurs in homes with health care and care for girls, boys, the elderly and people with disabilities, which is absorbed mainly by women.
> Promote specific strategies for women’s empowerment and economic recovery, considering cash transfer programs, to mitigate the impact of the pandemic and its containment measures, including support for them to recover and develop resilience for future crises.
> Adopt measures that guarantee the access of migrant and refugee women to health, employment, food and information services, mitigate protection risks with special attention to violence and trafficking in women and girls, and promote social cohesion.
And, therefore, these recent headlines expliciting the increase in domestic violence as a result of more time at home with aggressors make the urgency of prevention public policies and gender-based violence combat evident.
This text was translated by Helio Vieira Costa Neto, one of my best friends. Thank you, Helio, for your support, as usual. Luv ya.
You can read the original in Portuguese here.
