In India, how Covid-19 enabled new forms of economic abuse of women – South China Morning Post

Sabotage usually involves interfering in a womans access to money or in their work. Restriction is about controlling how women use money. And exploitation most often means a male partner or relative living off a woman, or insisting all debts go in her name.

My previous research has revealed unique forms of abuse that are embedded in specific sociocultural practices in India. For example, exploitation of streedhan (jewellery and movable or immovable assets given to a woman before and during her marriage) and dowry practices (money and gifts demanded by the groom and in-laws at the time of and after marriage) have been identified as a common form of economic abuse in South Asian marriages. If a woman lives with her husbands family, they may control her assets or income where multiple generations live together.

As part of our research in a city in Bihar, Indias third-most populous state in the east of the country, we made a 20-minute documentary, Spent: Fighting Economic Abuse in India, featuring five of the 76 women we spoke to. All but two were mothers with dependent children. We found that economic abuse was common irrespective of class, caste, religion, education or employment status.

One woman we feature, Nitya, wasnt allowed to work by her family. Instead, she was forced to perform domestic chores around the clock. This typically included being required to cook seven or eight courses at dinner. At the same time, her husband mocked her for not working. Nitya told us hed say: You dont work, whats the point of your education?

Some abusive husbands also refused to pay any household costs relating to women and children especially girls. Another of our interviewees, Nilu, told us how her husband had refused to pay the medical bills relating to their daughters birth and tried to force her back to work with a month-old baby. She was forced to stay at her mothers home to seek help.

Zubaidas husband got angry whenever she asked for money for necessities, while spending a large amount of money on his own clothes and shoes.

In addition, these women reported abuse that was embedded in cultural practices, such as demands for dowry. Nilu told us her husband pretended that he was not getting paid and made her father pay for everything in her house on a regular basis. Her father agreed to ensure that Nilu was not thrown out of her marital home.

Our interviews suggested that abusive mens bad treatment of their spouses tended to worsen during the pandemic.

In lockdown, a familys financial affairs became dependent on access to the internet, usually via shared mobile phones.

One of the women we talked to, Lakshmi a high-ranking corporate employee said she was duty-bound to keep her clients details confidential. Lakshmi told us her husband took not only her social media and banking passwords but also managed to access her work WhatsApp account, used for communicating with teammates. He started impersonating her online and insulted her superior, which caused her serious problems.

Several other women told us about their male relatives using their logins to clear out their bank accounts. Women also reported loans being taken out in their names, but having no access to money themselves.

Lockdown made it easier to prevent women from accessing their support groups, including their families. Nitya told us of being beaten by her husband, who wouldnt allow her to speak to her parents.

Indian law recognises economic abuse in its Domestic Violence Prevention Act 2005. It includes deprivation of all economic and financial resources and restriction to shared household resources, as well as exploitation of womens own belongings, such as their jewellery and other valuable possessions. But official understanding of economic abuse and its impact on women remains extremely low both at government level and among professionals and service providers.

Its a serious problem. Economic abuse has a huge impact on womens physical and mental well-being and has also been shown to have an impact on childrens health and well-being.

To address economic abuse, theres an urgent need to have open conversations about money in families and challenge ideas around masculinity and money. More importantly, policymakers and practitioners need to work together to address the role of the state, market and community institutions in facilitating economic abuse by reinforcing gender norms, including in financial transactions.

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In India, how Covid-19 enabled new forms of economic abuse of women - South China Morning Post