Domestic strife calls up in lockdown: Maha women-children cell
A counselor at the Special Cell for Women andChildren, a joint initiative of the Tata Institute of SocialSciences and the state government's Department of Women andChild Development and Home Department, said one of the reasonscould be that men are not used to staying at home this wayand, as a result, women may not be getting their "householdspace".
"In normal circumstances, the woman, who may be ahousewife, gets her own space after her husband or other malemembers leave for work. But now (lockdown), every one is athome and she may feel drained due to the work," said VaishaliRanade, a senior counselor at the cell.
"Male members may not be used to staying at home allday this way. Moreover, they may feel irritated if they haveaddictions like cigarettes or liquor etc as these are nowunavailable," she said.
These reasons, plus issues like insecurity, financialinstability, lowered confidence levels may be adding tofrustration levels, leading to wives or women members in thehousehold bearing the brunt, Ranade explained.
"A 27-year-old woman recently called stating that herhusband was beating her up for petty reasons. She and herchildren were outside for several hours before calling thespecial cell. We gave her emotional support and then called upthe police which dealt with the man," she said.
In another case, a woman with a little child calledstating that none of the six male members helped in householdchores despite being at home due to the lockdown.
"When the woman protested, her husband assaulted herand not she doesn't want to live in that house. We are alsogetting calls that suggest there is an increase in demand forsex and women, being tired after all the household work, areunable to cope which is leading to conflict," she said.
She said a Kanpur man currently stranded in the cityhad also called, stating he had suicidal tendencies, and hewas asked to call 'iCall', a psychological helpline run byTata Institute of Social Sciences. SPKBNM BNM