Add another public health problem to the current coronavirus toll. Data analysis shows that domestic violence is working as an opportunistic epidemic, thriving in the circumstances produced by the lockdown.
On March 1, while cities and towns across China were locked down, as a 26-year-old woman named Lele was holding her 11-month-old daughter, her husband started beating her with a high chair. She wasn’t sure how often he had hit her. Eventually, one of her legs lost feeling and she fell to the ground, still holding her baby tightly in her arms.
She said she had been abused by her husband during their six-year relationship. But the Covid-19 epidemic made the situation even worse. After the attack, she took some photos of the high chair laying on the ground in pieces. With two of his metal legs snapped off — evidence of the violence her husband wielded against her. Nearly every inch of her lower legs had bruises and a large hematoma blooming on her left calf.
In Spain, The New York Times with the help of women’s associations reached out to women stuck at home with an abusive husband or partner and conducted interviews with them over WhatsApp. One of them called Ana said she is sharing an apartment with her partner and that she’s being abused regularly. He insisted on complete surveillance at all times and tended to kick the door open before she attempts to lock herself up in a room.
“I can’t even have privacy in the bathroom — and now I have to bear it in a lockdown,” she wrote in a text message sent late at night to keep the interaction hidden from her husband.
Observers are already witnessing a pattern of excessive domestic violence around the world that correlates with the timing of social distance lockdown. In Spain, in the first two weeks of lockout, the hotline number for domestic violence registered 18% more calls than in the same period a month ago. A national spike of about 30% in domestic violence was reported by the French police.
The United States is witnessing a similar pattern. In Seattle, one of the first U.S. cities to see a significant epidemic, the police reported a 21% rise in incidents of domestic violence in March. During the same period in Texas, the Montgomery County District Attorney reported a 35% rise in domestic abuse incidents.
Mental-health organizations are making recommendations to help families decrease stress and anxiety at home. In France for example, people suffering from domestic violence can get help by rushing to a pharmacy and using a code word to ask for assistance. New Zealand motels are offering their empty rooms as shelters for people who wish to leave their dangerous houses without violating social distancing.
References: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/world/coronavirus-domestic-violence.html
https://theconversation.com/domestic-violence-growing-in-wake-of-coronavirus-outbreak-135598
