The pandemic has brought with it a health crisis that has forced serious measures to be taken to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
At the beginning of the crisis, confinement and mobility restriction measures were applied, which led to a significant reduction in COVID-19 cases, but had the collateral effect of the increase in another serious problem: domestic violence.
Over the last year, Several studies have addressed the effects of confinement on domestic violence, trying to see what the links have been between anti-covid measures and the appearance of this type of aggression. Let’s see it below.
What do we know about the effects of confinement on domestic violence?
On March 11, 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic was declared. In a matter of days, in some cases hours, many governments around the world implemented measures to prevent the spread of the disease, restrictive measures that included confinement, the maximum reduction of all social contact with people outside the home and the prohibition to travel to prevent the virus from continuing to spread and worsening the already serious health situation.
These measures were effective in reducing the effects of the pandemic, but They brought with them problems such as stress and anxiety because the average citizen found themselves in a situation of high emotional tension Taking this into account, if psychologically less vulnerable people began to manifest mental problems, we can imagine how difficult it was for people who were already part of a risk group, such as victims of domestic violence.
Although all the measures to stay at home made sense from a health point of view, it is clear that it was the worst situation that people who suffered domestic violence could experience, whether at the hands of their partner or in the form of child abuse. The confinement forced people to stay in the place where they received this violence, without having access to people from outside who could detect the signs of abuse and violence and making it more difficult for them to receive assistance from specialized associations.
That violence against women has increased is a fact. Several global organizations, including the WHO, UN Women and UNICEF, warned against the need to pay special attention to women and children locked up with their abusers and to seek measures that would serve to prevent the spread of the virus but that would not put the most vulnerable groups at risk. Although confinement was necessary, it was clear that it was going to become a trap for victims of domestic violence. Decades of progress against this type of violence have been undone.
Given this situation, hundreds of researchers around the world carried out studies to address the relationships between the COVID-19 crisis, confinement and the increase in domestic violence. The objective was not only to see the specific effects behind domestic violence attributable to the health crisis, but also to seek the answer to create policies that prevent the exposure of potential victims to this type of violence, either by better detecting cases in a confinement situation or preventing them from remaining at home with their abuser.
There are several effects of confinement on domestic violence, both directly and indirectly, increasing it. The confinement measures, along with the economic impact that the pandemic has had, increased the factors that have been associated with this type of violence. Among them we can highlight the increase in unemployment in the male population, stress from having to take care of children for longer, the increase in financial insecurity and the application of maladaptive coping strategies finding himself in a situation that no one expected he would experience.
Recent research
Recently, Piquero’s group and colleagues have carried out a systematic review in which they have pooled research that has addressed the links between domestic violence and confinement, trying to find the specific effects that confinement has had on domestic violence. Worldwide. Their work compares the results obtained from all parts of the world, which puts into perspective how the phenomenon has occurred in a multicultural and multi-state manner.
From this systematic review it is concluded that The global economic impact of COVID-19 has led to an increase in several factors that have traditionally been associated with domestic violence, which shows and explains the increase in this type of aggression. The health crisis has increased unemployment, adding stressors to the home. In addition, as children stop going to school, their parents have had to take a more active role in their formal education in addition to having to spend more time at home.
There have been many cases of people who have not lost their job, but who have had to telework at home with the rest of the family, something that can cause tension. If the job was not stable and, therefore, there was the possibility of ending up losing it during the pandemic (e.g., restoration) Tension increased due to uncertainty and financial instability which has been the background of the entire health crisis.
Another explanation behind the increase in domestic violence due to confinement is that there has been more social isolation among women as they cannot establish contact outside their domestic nucleus. Added to this, there have been more opportunities and attempts by abusers to exert their power and coercive control over their partners and there have also been more cases of marital conflict. Nor can we ignore the fact that, due to emotional distress, many men have fallen into substance abuse.
In addition to all these factors mentioned here, we cannot ignore the main fear of a health crisis: getting sick. Many people were truly terrified of contracting COVID-19, since the mere possibility of getting sick could mean losing their job and losing income, having to receive lifelong treatment, or dying. All of this has worsened overall mental health, causing tension in the home and increasing domestic assaults.
But really all this is not new. There was already a suspicion even before the pandemic that, in the event of a health crisis, the physical and mental health of women would worsen as a result of an increase in cases of domestic violence due to the increase in factors that are behind it. It was already known that cases of domestic violence were more serious and common after natural disasters and epidemics since they imply a situation of great tension.
Although women have been gaining rights over recent decades and there has been greater awareness to prevent cases of domestic violence from occurring, the pandemic situation in which we still find ourselves has undone years of progress. As this is a completely new situation for the majority of society, in which psychological distress has increased, it is not strange (but not justifiable) that attacks have occurred in the home, whether specific or systematic.
This situation should help governments, associations and any organization that has the capacity to protect victims of domestic violence to develop plans so that, in the event that we have a health crisis again in the near future, they can be applied. measures that prevent the spread of the disease but without trapping women victims of this type of assault with their abusers.
