Impact of Covid on the Trend of Domestic Violence in Indian Households

Abstract

Since the onset of COVID-19 pandemic, a rising trend of domestic violence in India is reported by literature using either call/complaints data or newspaper reports. However, the complaints data could not provide an adequate measure of the effect of the pandemic on the occurrence of domestic violence, if a substantial number of cases remain unreported. Till now, national level data to capture the changes in household dynamics during pandemic time is rare. The novelty of this study comes from the use of a national level survey, National Family Health Survey data of the Fifth round (2019-21) on India, which was not specifically designed for identifying the impact of COVID, but includes many attributes of women’s life regarding demographic characteristics, health and childbirth, subjective and objective information on domestic violence among many others. The data has been collected from 2019 to 2021, with a halt due to COVID restrictions from April to September 2020. Using this break in the data this study examines whether and how the pattern of domestic violence has changed during the pandemic time. The impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on the trend and nature of domestic violence and also on the patterns of the influence of the predictors of domestic violence are measured using probit regression analysis. The findings imply that violence may decrease if women provide financial security to the family amid uncertainties during pandemic, but violence can increase if women increase the burden of the family.