ABSTRACT
The lockdown consequently put survivors of domestic violence at higher risk, confined in their unsafe homes with the perpetrator. It also affected public services. The situation demanded new strategies for crucial service provision to survivors.
This chapter draws upon the collective effort of Special Cell for Women and Resource Centre for Interventions on Violence against Women (RCI-VAW) TISS, Mumbai. It presents the programmatic strategies adopted during the Covid-19 pandemic, to respond to survivors of domestic violence through a helpline, advocacy, strengthening systemic response, and facilitation of multi-agency coordinated response based on existing work with the police system. It recommends the presence of trained social workers in state systems with specific financial allocation and the recognition of such services as ‘essential’.
