How the Coronavirus is impacting those experiencing domestic violence

Written By WIIS Australia

Creator: Luca Lorenzelli | Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

By Rosie Dent

As the world has turned its attention to combating the COVID-19 outbreak through lockdowns and self-isolation methods, victims of domestic violence (DV) are suffering. There have been spikes in reports of domestic violence globally, to varying degrees. In Tunisia, hotlines for women experiencing abuse increased fivefold; Spain saw an 18% increase in calls to the emergency number for domestic violence; French police reported a 30% rise in domestic violence call-outs, and in China, the number of calls tripled. When accounting for the amount of abuses that aren’t reported, these numbers are likely much higher. Women are disproportionately affected by gendered violence, with some national studies showing that up to 70% of women have experienced some form of intimate or sexual partner violence in their lifetime. Due to a range of systemic inequalities, the percentage is much higher for women of colour on a global scale and locally, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in Australia.

These sharp spikes in violence are not only caused by victims being forced to isolate with their abusers or in dangerous living situations, but by a complex web of factors that have not been properly addressed. Studies have shown strong links between domestic and intimate partner violence and the consumption of alcohol. In Australia, it is estimated that 65% of reported family violence incidences involved the consumption of alcohol. When considering that Australia has seen a 34% increase in spending on alcohol compared to the same period in 2019, there is certainly cause for concern. Additionally, job losses, increased stress, affected mental health and restrictive societal gender roles intertwine with these other factors to create unsafe living situations. However, it is extremely important to recognize that domestic and intimate partner violence does not occur in a vacuum. The effects of such circumstantial contributing factors should not be used to excuse abusive behaviour. Rather, these complexities should be utilized to better understand gendered violence as a symptom of the oppressive and restrictive gender norms that have been perpetuated by heteronormative societies for generations.

Due to these complexities and broader complications caused by the coronavirus, organizations dedicated to helping victims of DV are struggling to provide services to those in need. Despite increased cleaning of safehouses and shelters, these gathering sites are still at risk of becoming Covid-19 hotspots. For victims with children, this can be particularly offputting to seeking help in these avenues, for fear of fleeing one danger straight into another. This has pushed a lot of services aimed at helping those experiencing DV to online or other contactless platforms. In recent months there have been notable increases in traffic for counselling websites, DV online support resources, legal services and the appearance of more online DV survivor networks. Although organizations are attempting to find new and innovative ways to help victims remotely, it is extremely difficult to replace in-person assistance.

One of the biggest issues with online platforms becoming the primary sources of community and support is that abusers tend to restrict their victim’s access to the internet or monitor their online activity. Victims of domestic violence will often wait to seek help during times when they are away from their abuser, at work, or unburdened with childcare. Under the conditions of global COVID-19 lockdowns, many of these options are no longer viable. These online options also exclude extremely vulnerable groups such as victims who cannot afford internet services, the homeless or those with language barriers. Furthermore, there are many in-person support services for those experiencing domestic violence that simply cannot be replaced. Current lockdown conditions also restrict access to emergency medical support, rape kits, reproductive and maternal health services that are essential for victims.

However, some national governments are adapting and responding to these challenges better than others. The French administration has been praised for its action taken to deal with its 32% increase in reported cases of domestic violence, opening pop-up counselling centres in grocery stores and pharmacies so victims can seek help without rousing suspicion from their abusers. Furthermore, the government has announced it will be paying to house victims of domestic violence in hotels, which provides the opportunity to safely isolate away from dangerous living situations. Another interesting example is found in Greenland, where the government has temporarily banned the sale of alcohol in the capital, Nuuk, after an increase in reports of domestic violence since the lockdown was enforced. While neither of these approaches are perfect or all-encompassing, it is encouraging to see national governments attempting to create dynamic programs to safely reduce the rates of violence during lockdown periods.

The Australian response, however, has been lacking. As Australian anti-domestic violence organizations and support services are already suffering from funding gaps, the capacity to adapt in the Covid-19 era is simply not there. Although the government announced a funding boost as part of its Covid-19 response plan, this temporary measure does not address the challenges of contactless support. With DV response largely shifting from trained professionals to police interventions, CEO of Women’s Safety New South Wales Haley Foster believes there is a need to coordinate a national training and oversight system to ensure the correct actions are taken in domestic violence situations. Relying on police intervention is also problematic for people of colour, particularly in Indigenous communities, who do not feel safe with police forces. This distrust is largely attributed to ever-increasing reports of police abuse and deaths in custody for people of colour across Australiaxiii. This fear often prevents victims within vulnerable communities from reporting violence and results in disconnected, aggregate data which fails to accurately represent the extent and specifics of the violence. Without adaptive programs and sustainable funding from the Australian government, many victims are at risk of becoming further isolated and falling through the cracks of over-loaded services.


Resources and Further Reading

WIIS Australia
Previous

Will the pandemic derail hard-won progress on gender equality?
Next

COVID-19 and Domestic Violence in Australia