Women across the world who experience domestic violence are now at more risk than ever. With the quarantine rules in place and nowhere to hide from their abusive spouses, some countries have seen a tripling in the number of reports sent in about violence in the household. But it’s not only the women who suffer; their children are also forced to stay at home with their abusers for as long as the quarantine lasts.
In China, the center from which the Covid-19 virus broke out, there has been a major increase in household violence reports, from forty-seven in 2019 to one hundred and sixty-two in 2020. That’s an increase of over three hundred percent, and it’s most likely going to keep going up as long as there are no drastic measures made. These numbers can’t be random, and activists desperately try to raise awareness about what’s happening.
A police officer in China says that the coronavirus has brought dire consequences for household violence. He confirms that, based on their numbers, ninety percent of the roots of violence are directly connected to the pandemic.
This is a tendency that is happening all over the globe. For example, in some countries in South-America, there has been a rise in the number of incidents that are believed to originate from the Covid-19 circumstances.
A Brazilian judge who’s an expert in the topic of household violence says she thinks there has been an increase of forty or fifty percent – and the need for help was already overwhelming at the outset. She further urges the population to try to stay composed to handle the challenges they are confronting.
In Italy, the domestic violence reports show a decreasing number of phone calls and an increasing number of text messages. This is most likely because many women are afraid that their abusive spouses will overhear them if they make a call, so therefore they choose to text.
Most household violence consultants urge women to do their best to report their partners if the violence has gone out of hand. The police in some countries have even made it legal for women to break the quarantine rules if their purpose for doing so is to report an incident in their home.
But many women are also forced to stay with their partners because they don’t earn enough money to secure food and shelter for themselves and their children. In many of these cases, the sad reality is that a silent acceptance of fate has taken hold. They’ve lost all hope that things can get better.
Governments worldwide must be informed further about how the coronavirus and quarantine rules impact women in abusive households.
A pronounced lawyer in Norway, CEO of Advokat Stavanger says “They must assume that the pandemic will last for a long time – perhaps many years – and help these exposed women during that time.”
Keep your family safe during these trying times, and remember to get along.
