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Sexual and Gender-based Violence and COVID-19

A Survey of Six Settlements across Delhi-NCR

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an alarming increase in experiences of SGBV, and in particular domestic violence—both in urban and rural areas. In India, in 2020, 23,722 complaints of crimes committed against women were received by the National Commission for Women (NCW), the highest in the last six years. At the same time, there has also been a breakdown of traditional service delivery mechanisms, with service providers unable to respond to the rising needs of survivors through existing systems and pathways. The pandemic has also resulted in creating another humanitarian challenge of an unprecedented magnitude–the migrant worker crisis. Over the last year, the country witnessed the absolute disenfranchisement of this community as a majority of them have lost their livelihood and are unable to access even the most basic of services due to their tenuous legal status. Within this context, women migrants face double discrimination; encountering all the challenges specific to migrants, as well coupled with specific vulnerabilities as victims of gender-based violence, and physical, sexual or psychological abuse, exploitation and trafficking. They remain economically dependent on their male relatives and are excluded from legal protection system and support mechanisms such as police, legal or legal aid, medical facilities, and social services, as well as safe shelters.

In January, M.A.P designed and undertook a first-of-its-kind targeted needs assessment study of migrant populations (both internal and refugees) across 6 settlements in Delhi to understand: (a) the lived experiences of the community with SGBV in the aftermath of COVID, (b) the awareness of laws that protect survivors; (c) effectiveness of community and institutional support structures; and (d) the possibility of using technology to address protection gaps. The findings of the report seek to fuel a paradigm shift in the protection ecosystem towards innovative solutions to facilitate remote delivery of services to survivors and strengthen legal response systems.  

Objectives

This report specifically seeks to serve as a tool to inform programmatic interventions being undertaken by M.A.P and other stakeholders that have a focus on the:

  • Development of remote SGBV assistance frameworks through the use of user-friendly digital tools for the community (such as an app);

  • Creation of online case management systems in collaboration with relevant service providers to facilitate coordinated interventions for multi-sectoral linkages;

  • Employment of innovative communication mediums to strengthen and sustain ongoing legal empowerment initiatives;

  • Establishment of specialised mobile legal aid desks to facilitate access to legal protection; and

  • Empowerment of local community-based support structures (barefoot advocates, women’s groups etc.).

Methodology & Intervention

For the purpose of the study, MAP undertook the following:

  • Semi-structured interviews (in-person and telephonic) of 350 respondents from across the six locations was undertaken in two rounds; the first with internal migrants and the second with communities of displaced persons.

  • Focus group discussions were also undertaken in order to gain an understanding, from a broader sample of participants, the awareness of SGBV issues and other problems the community may be facing.

  • Desk research of relevant national surveys and research publications to map findings against broader findings of SGBV, and familiarise the interviewers with the background of the respondents.

  • Resource mapping of settlements to understand the location and availability of health and justice-services, and identify key persons and stakeholders.

  • Analysis of the data through quantitative and qualitative methods; using coding and categorisation techniques to analyse descriptive questions, and relying on simple Excel tools for the objective ones.

Structure of the Report

This report begins with an introduction explaining the background and the context created by the pandemic. The introduction also lays down the rationale and objective of the Project before discussing the methodology employed and the limitations.

This is followed by a detailed analysis of the results from the Needs Assessment survey where findings related to demographics, knowledge of SGBV, support structures and digital capacity are highlighted. The analysis is both quantitative and qualitative.

The last part of the report concerns itself with Key Findings, the Conclusion and the Road Map for Programmatic Interventions for the Project.