Shoba Suri writes for ORF: According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), ‘violence against women remains devastatingly pervasive’ affecting around 736 million women worldwide. Women from low-and lower- middle-income countries are disproportionately affected by violence. About 37 percent of women (15 to 49 years) in the poorest countries are subjected to violence, with high prevalence of domestic violence in South Asia and Sub Saharan Africa, nearly 33 to 51 percent (figure 1). The lowest prevalence (16-23 percent) was seen in Europe, Central and Eastern Asia regions. The pandemic has further exacerbated violence against women, with particularly domestic violence showing an increase. The reasons include stress with loss of livelihood, disruption of social and protective networks, close living conditions, and restricted movement. The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) on gender equality calls for an elimination of ‘all forms of violence against all women and girls in public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation’. Yet 49 countries have no legislation on domestic violence. COVID-19 implications have led to a 30 percent increase in domestic violence for some countries.
go to ORF website: Case study on India: Impact of domestic violence on the nutritional status of children | ORF (orfonline.org)
