News - #SolidarityWorks! Workers and their families receive food packages from Munnade. © Cividep 04 May 2020 Increase in violence against women and girls The corona crisis means existential uncertainty. Without work and without wages, many workers are exposed to increased stress and concern about feeding their families. Domestic violence is rising. The corona crisis exacerbates existential concerns. Hundreds of thousands of workers in Bangalore have lost their jobs due to the curfew. There is a lack of food, medical care and the property to pay rent. Physical and psychological well-being suffers – stress increases to care for oneself and the family. In small tenement barracks and slums, families of 4 to 6 are now crammed together and have to endure the hopelessness. Their livelihoods are dwindling. In a male-dominated society, women have always suffered from inequality and a lack of legal certainty, which manifests itself in violence against women and girls. The acute stress situation now makes them even more vulnerable than usual. Our partner organisation CIVIDEP reports an increase in reports of domestic violence. Women's calls to the state women's commission have doubled since the curfew imposed by the government. Violence against women and girls ranges from physical, sexual to psychological and economic violence. Women's groups are in contact with workers and inform that calls for help have increased enormously due to violence and psychological stress. The risk to children's well-being has also increased, such as a Report by Childline (PDF download) confirmed. © CividepSpecial attention must be paid to the needs of women. One of Cividep's priorities is to support households run by women. 200 to 300 workers are to be reached. The aim is to enable women to remain in the cities so that they can resume their work as soon as possible. If they are not reinstated after the curfew, it is important to support the women in their search for new work. In the wider context, however, consulting and counselling services are also important. The gender situation of women needs to be taken into account in all measures to best protect them from the effects of the crisis.
