COVID-19 --- The Shadow Pandemic: The Growing of Violence Against Women

Yvonne Lian, 2021

Dina Smailova picks up a phone call, the women on the other end of the call is weeping silently, she said she was just beaten up badly by her drunk husband. ‘How can I escape him?’

Dina is the leader of the NeMolchi (Don’t Keep Silent) movement and well-known Kazakhstani activist. Before the quarantine, the helpline of NeMolchi received calls from sexual violence. Now, she says there has been an unmistakable increase in the number of calls—phone ring 10 to 15 times a day, from desperate women who were suffering from domestic violence. Due to citywide lockdown and containment measures, these victims find it increasingly hard to reach for help while they are forced to be trapped with their abusers.

COVID-19 crisis poses new challenges that worry Dina. “During quarantine, the courts do not work, claims are not accepted, abusers are not isolated, and women have to continue living with their abusers,” she explains.

Ever since the Covid-19 lockdown around the world, there has been a huge spike in reported domestic violence all over. With 90 countries in lockdown, four billion people are now isolated in home. It is a useful and effective protective measure that stops the spread of the virus. Yet, it brings another deadly danger —— a shadow pandemic of violence against women.

Tension strained by security, health, and money concerns is some of the underlying triggers for domestic violence. Behind the closed doors, bruises and verbal abuse are hidden from daylight. In parallel, health systems that are at the verge of collapse, and legal systems that are suspended additionally fuel the spike. Domestic violence shelters are also reaching maximum capacity, and service deficit left many silently screaming at home, trapped with abusers.

The virus, however, is not entirely at blame for domestic violence. Even before COVID-19, domestic violence not only existed but was already one of the most significant human rights violations. Reported by the UN, just in the previous 12 months, 243 million women and girls (aged 15-49) across the world have been subjected to sexual or physical violence by an intimate partner. To put it more plainly, one in three women will experience physical or sexual abuse at some point in her life.

According to the United Nations, domestic violence helplines and shelters worldwide are reporting rising calls for help. In Argentina, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States, government authorities, women’s rights activists, and civil society partners have flagged increasing domestic violence reports during the crisis and heightened demand for emergency shelter. Helplines in Singapore and Cyprus have registered an increase in calls by more than 30 percent. In Australia, 40 percent of frontline workers reported increased requests for help with violence escalating in intensity.

Another report from NCBI reported in April revealed more data. In China, domestic violence is reported to have tripled during their lockdown mandate. Additionally, France has indicated a 30 % increase in domestic violence reports, Brazil estimates domestic violence reports have jumped 40–50 %, and Italy has also indicated domestic violence reports are on the rise. In Spain, reports have surfaced of a horrific domestic violence-related homicide –— a trend that is unfortunately likely to continue around the globe as stress continues to build, and shelter-in-place measures extend into the future. The growing global trend of increasing reports of domestic violence cases is likely to continue throughout the pandemic. It may only represent a “tip of the iceberg” as many victims still find themselves trapped with the perpetrator and unable to report the abuse.

America is no stranger. Reeling from sudden job losses or a sudden drop in salary, people also struggle with living in small scooped-up spaces and financial worries. Children are also locked up at home. The accumulation of stressful events and a lack of social support are tightly linked to domestic violence. Indeed, domestic violence reports have surged in agencies from across the country. But even more devastatingly, some perpetrators are using Covid-19 as a weapon against their victims, forbidding hand-washing in an attempt to increase the victim’s fear of contracting the virus and threatening to prohibit medical treatment if the victim does contract the virus.

The Chicago Police Department reported a 12 percent increase in domestic violence calls compared to 2019. Adversely, in other cities, including Los Angeles and New York, the police have seen a drop in calls, but the authorities have said they believed that victims were in such close quarters with their abusers that they were unable to call the police. Indeed, according to the National domestic violence hotline, during March 2020, their contact volume decreased by 6% compared to March 2019. Yet, after the shelter-in-place orders began to lift throughout the country, the contact volume in April 2020 increased by 15% compared to April 2019.

“It’s terrible for women who are living with their abusers right now,” said one of the victims. “It’s hard to walk out during normal times.”

Indeed, under-reporting of domestic has always been a challenge to collecting relevant data. Less than 40 percent of women who experience violence seek help of any kind, and less than 10 percent of those women go to the police. The current circumstances make it even more excruciating. Access to phones and helplines is limited while public service is out of reach. Furthermore, in many countries, the laws are not on women’s side; 1 in 4 countries has no laws specifically protecting women from domestic violence.

Women fighting for domestic violence have also turned to innovative workarounds in response to the hardships posed by COVID-19. In France, organizations encourage people who experience abuse to say a codeword (“mask19”) to a pharmacist at a drugstore to get help. In the UK, the Silent Solution system allows victims to alert police without saying anything; you dial 999 operators and press 55. In some UK hospitals, victims can take red stickers from bathroom posters and stick them in their medical history charts. The doctors would be alerted and help them to separate the partners or call the police for help.

This is why raising money and funding is so essential to protecting these victims. Not only are there female victims, but male victims are also even less likely to speak out due to their concerns about public opinions and manhood. Grassroot foundations and women’s organizations have played a critical role in preventing and responding to previous crises and need to be supported strongly in their current frontline role, especially with funding in the longer-term. Setting a good example, Rihanna teamed up with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to donate $4.2million to help domestic violence victims in LA amid the coronavirus lockdown in April. The donation comes amid reports that more than 90 people are being turned away from domestic violence shelters in LA every week.

The shadow pandemic won’t disappear even when the actual pandemic ends. Like Dina’s organization from Kazakhastan, many supporting agencies around the globe were already feeling the strain of an ever-increasing workload and continually diminishing resources. They face greater barriers, for and upmost financial pressures and lack of help members, now as they struggle to locate the isolated victims and place the survivors in appropriate care shelters. As one study says, for as long as we allow family violence to remain in the shadows, it will do just that –- remain. We must be vigilant. If you see or hear something concerning, please report it. The call you make may very well save a life.