Domestic Violence and Coping Strategies among Married Adults during Lockdown Due to Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Pandemic in India: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: There has been a reported increase in cases of domestic violence during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic; however, systematic research data are still unavailable. This study was conducted to find out domestic violence prevalence and coping strategies among married adults during lockdown due to COVID-19 in India. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among married men and women in the month of April 2020. Data regarding socio-demographic profile, domestic violence, and coping strategies used during lockdown were collected thorough Google Forms. A total of 97.9% of the forms were completely filled by the respondents. A descriptive analysis was done. Results: Of 94 study participants, approximately 7.4% (n = 7) had faced domestic violence during lockdown. Of these 7 participants, approximately 85.7% (n = 6) reported increased frequency of domestic violence during lockdown. Approximately half of the victims chose to ignore it (57.1%; n = 4) or used yoga/meditation (42.9%; n = 3) to cope. Conclusions: With approximately 7.4% study participants facing domestic violence during lockdown, it is necessary to study its detailed epidemiology in pandemics so that interventions like helpline numbers, screening of patients during tele-consultation, etc., which can be delivered even during lockdown with the help of health-care and frontline workers could be devised to address this problem.