India’s Policy Response to COVID-19 and the Gendered Impact on Urban Informal Workers in Delhi NCR: Thematic Brief 6: Policy Responses and Impact on Gender-Based Violence

In India, even prior to the pandemic, NFHS-4 data suggested that around 33% of ever-married women experienced physical, sexual and/or emotional violence in their lives. While this estimate is for 2015-16, COVID-19-induced lockdowns increased incidences of gender-based violence (GBV), precipitating the “shadow pandemic.” The National Commission for Women (NCW) recorded a 79% increase in complaints of domestic violence, from 2,960 complaints in 2019 to 5,297 in 2020. Even a year after the lockdown, reports suggested that the numbers continued in the same trend.