Domestic Violence During Pandemic

The pandemic has taken a toll on pretty much everyone these past few years. We’ve already heard a great deal about it’s effects on our body and how it damages us physically. However, today we’ll go over to the seldom-talked about topic of how the pandemic has indirectly caused the intensification of domestic violence, especially against women. 

Before we get to the details and statistics, let’s try to understand more about what domestic violence is.  Domestic violence or domestic abuse is an act of someone using force or other harmful methods in order to gain control or power over their partner or their supposed “loved ones”. Abuse can come in many different forms, such as terrorizing, manipulating someones emotionally, physically abusing, gaslighting, guilt tripping etc. Let’s not forget that abuse doesn’t only happen to women. People of all genders or ages can experience the same terrible treatment. 

So how has the pandemic caused the rise in such cases? Since the lockdowns and the spread of the corona virus, violence against women has increased to record levels around the world. The UN referred to the situation as the “shadow pandemic”. According to the American Journal of Emergency Medicine, domestic violence cases skyrocketed by 25 to 33 percent globally. One of the most notorious cause of the violence is the mass unemployment that has caused millions of families around the globe to strugggle both financially and emotionally. The stress that came with the struggle combined with the lockdown only provoked violence to take place. The sad part is that because of the lockdown, the ability to get help from professionals or the proper authorities was difficult, to the point where it could be described as a hostage situation.

Now that the lockdowns are pretty much gone and people are starting to get back on track, we can hope that the number of these violent or hurtful incidents will eventually die down. On the other hand, we can also help to prevent them happening to someone. Pay attention to the people you care about outside of your family, if you see any signs of such terrible acts, we can always try to help them or get help from professionals, talk about the issue to other people we trust. It’s also best to avoid confronting the suspected perpetrator directly because it could potentially provoke them to hurt someone.

Written by Evan William