Historicallywomen have been facing gender based violence and discrimination in various aspects of life and in almost every society around the world. Gender based violence includes several forms of violence such as rape, sexual harassment, female infanticideetc. Domestic violence is another form of gender based violence that has brought attention to the entire world community exceedingly during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This is because during the COVID-19 almost all the societies have been witnessing a sudden rise in domestic violence cases. Indiahas no exception in this regard. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which was started in China in November-December 2019 had begun to spread in India mainly during March 2020. Since then the government of India has been taking various measures to break the chain of spreading the SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2) for example- nationwide Janata Curfew, Lockdown (1, 2, 3 and 4), Unlock (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5)etc. According to the reports published in various reputed newspapers and journals, during these lockdown and unlock period domestic violence against women has been largely increased around the country. In this background the present paper will examine the rise in domestic violence in India during the COVID-19 pandemic and will determine whether there is a relation between COVID-19 and domestic violence in India? The present paper will also try to trace possible measures to solve the problem of domestic violence during a pandemic. The study will completely be based on secondary sources and will follow a descriptive method of analysis.
Key words: Domestic violence, gender, women, COVID-19, pandemic
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