17 April 2020 02:59 am
Since March 20, islandwide curfew has been a key strategy to control the transmission of COVID-19. During this period, over 21 million people have been confined to their homes and other places of residence. Whilst the
In a context where people are isolated in their homes, with limited access to services or social supports, underreporting and challenges to accessing assistance are even greater than usual. However, within just days of the islandwide curfew, Chief Nurse at the National Hospital Pushpa Ramyani de Zoysa had raised concerns about the increase in women admitted to the accident ward for domestic violence-related injuries, writing that, “the biggest problem above all of this is that women being attacked by their husbands while they’re at home due to the curfew.” Since then, other service providers have also reported violence against women in their homes and highlighted the challenges in responding to these. Savithri Wijesekara, Executive Director of Women In Need (WIN) told us that, “between March 16 and April 01, WIN received approximately 250 calls of which 60% related to domestic violence.” Aside from formal hotlines, members of local women’s organisations across Sri Lanka are also receiving personal calls about cases in their communities. Anuratha Rajaretnam of Suriya Women’s Development Centre, Batticaloa cautions that many women face practical challenges to call from their homes because of a lack of privacy and safety, whereas in the past they would have called from a neighbour’s or relative’s house. Colleagues in the health sector have shared anecdotal accounts of women and other family members calling general health services for advice on how to deal with violence in their homes.
"Pre-COVID-19 data indicates that we are starting from a high baseline of intimate partner violence (IPV) and gender-based violence (GBV) within Sri Lankan households"
Most of the service providers primarily reference forms of physical violence, but we are also aware of less explicitly acknowledged forms of emotional abuse, financial abuse and sexual coercion that women are experiencing in the current context. Savithri Wijesekara emphasises that in the context of marital conflict or breakdown, “women depending on maintenance payments, especially those from low and middle income backgrounds” are facing difficulties in meeting basic survival needs
Pre-COVID-19 data indicates that we are starting from a high baseline of intimate partner violence (IPV) and gender-based violence (GBV) within Sri Lankan households. Sri Lanka Police reported a daily average of 60 complaints of domestic violence in 2018. The Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) of 2016 found that nearly one in every five ‘ever-married’ women interviewed reported experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) in the previous year, with only a minority of these women seeking help from family, friends or police. The 2016 DHS are amongst the most conservative estimates of IPV in Sri Lanka, with a 2018 WHO review reporting that the estimated rates for IPV found by diverse studies across different populations and geographic areas of Sri Lanka ranged from 18-72%. Against this backdrop, and based on what we are currently hearing from service providers, the conditions of lockdown, with family members living under conditions of close proximity, considerable practical and financial stress and without access to social supports have put many women at risk of violence at the hands of spouses or other members of their households. Women across Sri Lanka are currently experiencing violence and are unable to access adequate services for protection or redress.
The challenges of living in restricted space, dealing with financial hardships or other stressors of an uncertain situation increase the risk that some parents and adults will subject children in their households to cruelty or even abuse. In an interview on April 10, the Chairperson of National Child Protection Authority, Prof. Muditha Vidanapathirana reported an increase in complaints the NCPA received, saying that 127 of the 307 complaints received from the March 16 to April 9 related to child cruelty. Officers at district level have described parents who are unable to cope with their children in the context of lockdown or working from home using violence as a means of exerting control. They have also described knock-on effects of conflict and tension between adults resulting in greater aggression towards children. Many children who were in voluntary homes or orphanages have been sent back to families or relatives, and there are concerns that for a proportion of these children this may, in fact, place them back in situations of potential violence or neglect from which they had been originally removed. We have also come across examples of mothers who are stranded without means to get back to their homes, resulting in their children facing neglect and risks of physical abuse. Milani Salpitikorale, Attorney-at-Law and child rights activist, told us that, “in the past few weeks, I have got many complaints of children facing neglect and physical abuse including a complaint of attempted rape”. There are presently many similar accounts from community-workers to whom concerned adults are reaching out
Even prior to COVID-19, there were gaps in community-level services for and behavioural change interventions on gender-based violence. In the context of curfew and constrained functioning of non-essential services there is even less support available. Existing national hotline services have been rapidly strengthened and publicised, including some at district-level, and local women’s organisations are improvising systems for relaying calls to their office phones to staff members in their houses. Whilst these forms of support are valuable to women facing violence, those responding to these calls have limited options to offer in terms of recourse to the law or services. Under curfew, women are constrained in being able to relocate (often with children) to their parents or relatives’ homes for safety or to de-escalate violent situations. Similarly, there are mixed reports from across the island about the willingness of police to respond to complaints and how they intercede. In some instances, there are examples of local police improvising stop-gap-measures pending formal inquiries, such as separating the perpetrator from the victim, for instance by sending a husband to his mother’s house for the duration of the curfew. As indicated by Pushpa de Zoyza, even women seeking treatment for injuries are reluctant to make formal complaints because they don’t want their husbands arrested - for a range of reasons not uncommon in the context of intimate partner violence, but also because of the uncertainty of the current context. Another reason given for women being unwilling to make complaints at this time was the fear that they (not the perpetrator) would be removed from their homes and placed in quarantine. There have been positive efforts to provide public messages via electronic and social media to promote mutual understanding and cooperative relationships between spouses, but it is not clear what kind of impact we can expect from these - particularly with hard-to-reach groups.
"The challenges of living in restricted space, dealing with financial hardships or other stressors of an uncertain situation increase the risk that some parents and adults will subject children in their households to cruelty or even abuse"
In relation to children, whilst the NCPA and other child protection services are receiving complaints via the established national hotlines and direct phone calls to field officers, responding to these at household level has been challenging in the current context. Child protection staff at district level have described difficulties in responding because of disruption of the regular systems for a multi-sectoral response. Whilst police in some areas have been responding to cases, it is clear that in others they are not. Malini Salpitikorale shared that, “to some of the complaints I have forwarded to the police, I am told that action will only be possible after the 20th (of April). Police efforts are fully on COVID-19, but we need to ensure we respond to violence as well. If the government has recognised rice and parrippu as an essential service, then protecting women and children should also be an essential service.” Other child protection service providers have been constrained in their ability to move about during curfew, not only to respond to cases but also to carry out routine prevention and monitoring work at community-level, in children’s homes and with at-risk families. The fear of infection and lack of guidance and personal protective equipment has also been a barrier to mobilisation. There has been helpful messaging online and on mainstream media around positive parenting strategies for caregivers, and it is important to monitor how this is reaching families at risk and effecting behavioural change.
Given the unprecedented islandwide measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, it is not surprising that services to respond to violence were not prioritised in the initial weeks. However, it is now vital that the government, other service providers and the media address the need for protection of people at risk of violence, through both prevention measures and ensuring timely and effective responses to cases of violence. Below are key actions proposed or recently initiated by service providers that require support from the highest levels of the COVID-19 response mechanism.
"We have also come across examples of mothers who are stranded without means to get back to their homes, resulting in their children facing neglect and risks of physical abuse"
Ermiza Tegal is an Attorney-at-Law with a practice focussed on family law and domestic violence. Ananda Galappatti is a medical anthropologist and practitioner in the field of mental health and psychosocial support. This article is written in their individual professional capacities.