Violence against children in workplace shot up in July: MJF

Incidents of violence against children in the workplace shot up in July after people gradually started to return to work since June.

A telesurvey titled "Violence against Women and Children: Covid-19" conducted by Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF) found that child abuse in the workplace increased by 137 percent in July compared to the previous month. 

A total of 692 children were subjected to violence in the workplace in July, while the number was 292 in June. On the other hand, incidents of domestic violence has decreased.

In addition, incidents of child abduction has also increased — 69 children were abducted during the pandemic. 

Besides, a total of 2,979 children have been tortured, and of them, 1,979 (64 percent) are girls while 1,000 (34 percent) are boys.

According to MJF's findings, violence against children increased after the lockdown, as more and more children have joined work in both formal and informal sectors. Having been away from economic activities for a long period, many people were instigated to send their children to work. Besides, parents were also in favor of getting some extra money as the children have not been going to school amid the closure.

On the other hand, due to the downfall of the economy, factory owners (especially of the informal sector) took the opportunity to use child labour, which is comparatively cheaper than paying the wages of adult workers.

To understand the extent of violence against women and children in this changed situation, MJF collected data through its 111 partner organisations in 53 districts in July, and interviewed a total of 63,968 people. Of them, 44,875 were women and 19,093 were children.

The total number of victims, including women and children, was 11,471 in July, which was a slight decrease from the 12,740 recorded in June.

A total of 8,492 women were subjected to violence in July while the number was 9,844 in June. Incidents of violence against children increased to 2,969 in July, while the number was 2,896 in June.

The survey also revealed that a total of 8,389 women have become victims of domestic violence in July, which is 94.8 percent of total incidents of violence. In addition, 56 women have faced sexual violence and 19 women have been raped or attempted to rape, 11 women have been killed and 17 have been sexually harassed while receiving food and other aid.

Although the highest number of children became victims of domestic violence, the rate of child marriage has decreased to 174 in July.

Of the 8,389 women who had to face domestic violence, 4,000 were victims of mental abuse; 2,771 were victims of economic violence; 1,546 were physically tortured and 200 were sexually abused.

Referring to the July data, MJF executive director Shaheen Anam thinks the increase in child abuse in the workplace is alarming. She urged the government to pay special attention to the safety of children along with other emergencies. 

MJF has previously analysed the situation of domestic and other forms of violence in April, May and June with the help of its partner organisations. The organisation has conducted the survey to prevent violence against women and children during the pandemic and provide them with the necessary support.

Although the shutdown has ended, MJF called for prioritising women and children, among other things, and demanded immediate action to keep them free from violence.

This includes keeping the helplines well-functioning, for example, 109 for stopping violence against women and 999 for police assistance, so that people can get help immediately if they are in distress.