Domestic violence against women during Covid-19: a case study of rural Gwembe Zambia

Socio-economic factors contribute to DV against women. The outbreak of Covid-19 brought with its structural changes in the way of life for humans globally. The quarantine and lockdown of countries due to Covid-19 brought with its economic challenges, social distancing, closure of schools, businesses, loss of employment and other socialization chal-lenges. The pandemic exposed the deep rootedness of the already existing societal inequali-ties especially against the weak in society (women, girls, and children). With the patriarchal and institutionalized societal structures that favor male dominance over women, the pan-demic had pinned women to various forms of Domestic Violence (DV) that produced harsh living conditions for women. Women found themselves in lockdowns with men who could have been abusing them and the lockdown could have opened new avenues for exacerbation of DV. The study examined the perceptions about the consequences associated with Covid-19 measures on the prevalence of domestic violence from a human rights perspective. It calls for more legal consciousness and empowerment of women as a mechanism for DV eradica-tion, and establishment of robust helping seeking mechanisms during such moments espe-cially for rural set-ups. While legal statutes and policies have been passed to curb domestic violence, enforcement still remains a huge challenge and hence, there is need for collabora-tion and concerted effort by different agencies to ensure that women enjoy their human rights and freedoms from in-human treatments, discrimination and inequality which will fos-ter legal equality.