One of the fallouts of COVID-19 during the long lockdown in Wuhan, China was the exponential increase in Gender-Based Violence (GBV) or Domestic Violence. Here in Ghana, we simply call it “sound beatings!”
The lockdown and its aftermath have revealed that, while Road Traffic Accidents (RTAs) have reduced drastically, Domestic Violence in Ghana has increased. Radio phone-in calls by both men and women confirm that, while “sound beatings” are far more regular in marriages than we think, COVID-19 brought in more beatings.
Conservatism
For a long time, I thought rather conservatively that, beating a spouse was the exclusive preserve of men, hence the numerous reports of “wife-beating,” and not “husband-beating!” However, over time, I have revised my thinking in the face of new knowledge that, some wives pummel their husbands admirably.
Indeed, at a seminar sponsored by an NGO, a traditional ruler stated rather humorously that, our Ghanaian culture does not allow a man to admit, let alone complain publicly that, his wife has beaten him.
Revision
My married students helped educate me out of that old-fashioned thinking of male monopoly in beatings. I have learnt that, while generally, men are guilty of beating their wives, the roles are reversed in some, though fewer cases, where women beat their husbands beautifully. Similarly and as an aside, I have been educated that marital infidelity has also undergone a tremendous change from the conservative view that men are the only guilty parties.
Again, beating is no respecter of education or status and that it takes place across the board. So, while beating takes place at “sea level” of society for average people some with little education, it also takes place in stratospheric high places of very educated big men and women!
Travels
Having lived in other countries, I know that certain ethnic groups produce very physically strong and assertive females who resolve issues with their husbands with their fists. Some of these strong women confidently go in for a fight and inflict sound beatings on their husbands.
“Retired wife-beaters”
I was particularly amused about examples given of old retired wife beaters who now mount the moral high ground pontificating and flying the flag of family virtues. Sometimes, they are ably assisted by their wives who behave like they have never been at the receiving end of their husbands’ ferocious punches. What they may not know is that, while providing good amusement in acting their roles well, they make a laughing stock of themselves behaving like ostriches to those who know them.
Mauritania
Such women perhaps may have the psychology of beaten Mauritanian wives who show off the injuries inflicted on them as a sign of love by their husbands. Indeed, Mauritanian mothers encourage their daughters to marry young men from families with a known track record of wife-beating.
Since beating is now not a “uni-polar” activity but initiated by either sex, I have revised my original question from “have you stopped beating your wife” to “have you stopped beating your spouse?”
Dangerous Question!
A respondent described it as a “dangerous question!” The reason is that either a simple yes or no answer could put the interviewee in trouble. A yes answer implies that one used to beat one’s wife, but has now stopped. A no answer, on the other hand, implies that beating is still in progress! The same logic holds for husband beaters.
Why COVID beatings?
Having established the fact that Domestic Violence takes place even in the best of times, the question one asks is, why has this increased under COVID-19 in Ghana? Routinely, couples leave home for work early in the morning and return home at night.
Weekends are busy with the ladies going for marketing on Saturdays and doing their major cooking for the week. Time permitting, they join their husbands for weddings or funerals. Sundays are spent at church and later visiting or receiving visitors. Contact between couples is therefore minimal.
During the lockdown, this routine changed. Staying at home in “quarantine” tested tempers and generated its stresses and conflicts.
Economics
In Ghana, an estimated 80% of workers work in the informal sector. Many must work daily to ensure their daily bread in what is called “hand to mouth” existence. With the lockdown, the inability to work daily raised tempers easily among couples leading to violence. Again with the slow-down in the economy, some workers have been laid off, putting a strain on tempers at home.
Conclusion
A hike in domestic violence which was noticed in Wuhan, China with the advent of COVID-19 has replicated itself here in Ghana, though on a much lower scale. While the reasons for violence in couples’ lives may be understandable, the fact still remains that, violence against each other by couples will not solve the problem.
What is needed is the understanding and hope that COVID-19 is manageable if we observe all the safety protocols including regular handwashing with soap under running water, social-distancing, wearing face masks and above all, staying at home.
Fellow Ghanaians, this too shall pass!
Brig Gen Dan Frimpong (Rtd)
Former CEO, African Peace Support Trainers Association
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