1 domestic violence distress call every 5 mins

AHMEDABAD: A 29-year-old woman from Vejalpur called up Abhayam 181 women's helpline earlier this month to report frequent beating by her husband. "The man, a stockbroker, had lost money in a couple of deals and the family bore the brunt of the frustration. The woman initially kept mum fearing loss of reputation and escalation of skirmishes, but when the husband's demands about food to cleanliness increased with subsequent violence, she dialled for help," said a counsellor.
Hers was not a one-off case - the helpline till September 30 had received 74,949 calls related to domestic violence, averaging about 276 calls a day or one call every five minutes.In perspective, the Covid years 2020 and 2021 had reported 181 and 218 average daily calls respectively.
Falguni Patel, coordinator for Abhayam helpline, said that the lockdown period had recorded a sharp spike in domestic violence cases. "The husband and wife would be at home the whole day and the proximity often caused feuds that led to domestic abuse including verbal and physical violence. But post-Covid too, the distress calls have only increased substantially," she said. "Age, period of marriage or socio-economic conditions do not matter - we are getting cases from all strata."
From 2020 to 2021, the year-on-year rise was 20%, which got reduced a bit at 10% for 2022 and then rose at 17% for 2023 so far. In all, compared to 2021, the state has recorded a 27% rise in 2023 till September. For Ahmedabad city, the average daily call volume increased as much as 44% between 2021 and 2023.
‘Financial trouble main reason for DV’
Ahmedabad police officials said that there has been either status quo or rise yearon-year in registering domestic violence complaints post 2020. Jharna Pathak, secretary of Ahmedabad Women’s Action Group (AWAG), said that the data matches with the ground realities.
“One of the primary reasons is access to the remedies – it is believed that against one case registered, there would be many that go unreported. The reason for it varies from hope for an improved relationship to societal pressure. Monetary distress has always been a major reason for domestic violence, but other factors such as extramarital affairs, stress and domestic feud are also other factors,” she said.
“Liquor consumption habits of husbands in some cases becomes an additional burden.” Experts suggested strengthening support systems such as one-stop centres so that the women can voice their anguish without worrying about being thrown out of home and not accepted by parents along with legal remedies.