COVID-19 has inflamed the global issue of domestic abuse. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the executive director of UN Women, has called this the ‘shadow pandemic’; the unequivocal rise of calls to domestic abuse helplines, demand for emergency shelter, and reports of physical injury from women and girls across the world.
REPORTS OF INCREASING DOMESTIC ABUSE
Domestic abuse has long been an urgent human rights issue, even prior to the onset of COVID-19. The most recent UN figures indicate that roughly 50,000 women are killed each year by either a partner or relative. That is 137 women who are murdered each day. These statistics reflect the physical violence experienced by women; however, many legal definitions of domestic abuse also include emotional, psychological, financial, and sexual violence, which are even less frequently reported or understood.
From February 2020, national governments began initiating lockdown measures, albeit at different speeds. With lockdown came an immediate spike in reports of domestic abuse worldwide. In the very first weekend of the UK lockdown, calls made to the national domestic abuse helpline increased by 65%. During the first lockdown in France, which lasted two months, 44,235 calls were made to the national helpline. This figure can be contrasted with the 96,000 calls made over the whole of 2019. Research conducted by ActionAid showed how a Nigerian women's shelter has experienced a 700% rise in domestic abuse reports since lockdown measures began. In China's Hubei province, police cases of domestic violence grew by threefold in one county during the country's February lockdown. Similar trends are evident in Spain, Germany, Greece, Singapore, Australia, and Bangladesh.
Academics and activists are in the early stages of explaining how and why the pandemic has provoked such a sharp rise in domestic abuse. Paradoxical patterns have emerged; whilst reports of domestic abuse against women have increased, US child welfare organisations have noted a significant drop in the number of child abuse reports, likely the result of children having reduced contact with people outside of their family, who might ordinarily be able to detect signs of such abuse. Similarly, whilst calls to domestic abuse helplines have increased, other methods of detecting or reporting abuse, during in-person medical appointments for example, are no longer available. Consequently, it is possible that reports of domestic abuse will decline in areas where telephone or internet access is limited.
THE LINK BETWEEN COVID-19 AND DOMESTIC ABUSE
Despite the complexities of the data, we can discern two major ways in which COVID-19 has impacted the issue of domestic abuse. First, the pandemic has increased several risk factors associated with domestic abuse, such as stress, unemployment, and alcohol abuse. When considering this point, Karen Ingala Smith, the founder of Counting Dead Women, a project which records the number of women murdered by men in the UK, has urged that the blame for domestic abuse must not be shifted from the perpetrator onto the pandemic itself. Smith writes: ‘I don't believe coronavirus creates violent men... Coronavirus may exacerbate triggers, though I might prefer to call them excuses’. Thus, whilst it is important to acknowledge the link between ‘triggers’ such as unemployment and the incidence of domestic abuse, the pandemic must not be used as an excuse or justification for the perpetration of abuse. The responsibility for abuse, now and always, lies solely with the abuser.
Secondly, the pandemic has cut women's access to in-person help and support. As stated, the primary means of reporting abuse during the pandemic has been via calls to national helplines. Domestic abuse resources are now more commonly accessed via the internet; Refuge, a national domestic abuse charity in the UK, saw visits to their website increase by 700% in April 2020. Due to this shift away from in-person help, the UN has cautioned that women living in poorer areas and in smaller homes will find it the most difficult to obtain help.
THE RESPONSE TO DOMESTIC ABUSE
Domestic abuse during the pandemic has been addressed by a combination of women's organisations, charities, and governments worldwide. In May 2020, the charity Hestia launched the UK SAYS NO MORE CAMPAIGN, which encouraged UK pharmacies to provide safe spaces in their consultation rooms, so that survivors of domestic abuse can access confidential support. Pharmacies similarly provide a crucial port of safety in Spain, where survivors of domestic abuse can use the code ‘mask 19’ in order to report abuse. This code system has been implemented in France, and several other European countries.
To assist the efforts of charities, national governments have been urged to provide financial support and to create safety measures for vulnerable women and children. The Secretary-General of the UN stated that all governments should integrate the prevention of domestic violence into their COVID-19 response plans, and highlighted key actions which should be undertaken, including the instigation of public awareness campaigns. To this end, the British government launched the #YouAreNotAlone campaign in April 2020, to show solidarity with survivors of abuse, and to disseminate the national helpline number. On 18 November 2020, the British government announced further funding of £11 million to assist specialist domestic violence services throughout the winter. Such financial support has not been universal, and in many countries is non-existent. Australia's 2020-21 federal budget, for example, failed to provide any new finance for survivors of domestic violence, and reduced funding for its anti-domestic abuse education programme by over $1 million.
Ultimately, the global response to domestic abuse must be multi-dimensional. National governments, family courts, specialist charities, and local communities all play crucial roles in identifying and tackling abuse. Family, friends, and neighbours continue to provide essential support networks, albeit from a distance, and should be well-versed on spotting the signs of violence and coercive control.
COVID-19 has changed the way violence has been experienced by thousands of women and children across the world, creating even more barriers and compounding their pre-existing isolation. Within this changing landscape of experience, policy-makers should ensure that their strategies in tackling abuse are comprehensive, well-financed, and administered with more urgency than ever before.
RESOURCES
UK: call the national domestic abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247, or visit www.womensaid.org.uk
US: call the domestic violence hotline on 1-800-799-SAFE (7233).
International helplines for people in distress (not domestic violence specific) can be found at www.befrienders.org
If you are in immediate danger, contact the emergency services.
Maya is a current PGDL student at BPP University, and a Gray’s Inn scholar. After completing her degree in History at the University of Cambridge, she worked as a domestic violence caseworker. She now wishes to pursue a career at the Bar.