No Where To Go: Intimate Partner Abuse In The COVID-19 Pandemic

Many articles have surfaced reporting the increase in domestic violence since the beginning of self-quarantine imposed by many countries during the pandemic.  Survivors of gender violence have enforced psychological, if not physical, boundaries, dependent upon the whims of the abusive partner.  Targets of intimate partner abuse are accustomed to being tracked by their abusers.  Constant texting, following, and other surveillance are part of an abused partner’s daily routine.  

Now many survivors are trapped with their abusers.  Because of lockdowns, self-quarantines and other measures designed to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus, many families experiencing abuse are now forced to be with the abuser 24 hours a day.  Other additional stressors are unemployment, being with children 24 hours a day, and increased substance abuse. Calls to domestic violence hotlines have increased significantly.

The United Nations asked that countries make the safety of domestic violence survivors a priority and and few have made special accommodations part their response to the pandemic. But how?  No country has made anti-domestic violence a priority beyond basic and inadequate resources and certainly have not made significant inroads into changing the cultural acceptance of abuse.  Some countries have converted women’s shelters into health facilities.    Some shelters have introduced measures barring new victims for fear of further spreading the virus.  Few replacement shelters have become available during the interim.

Chickens are coming home to roost.  Governments have not been aggressive in addressing the root causes of abuse or in providing adequate remedies for those who have experienced intimate partner violence.  Advocates are often only able to provide temporary relief to the abused.  Legal systems may provide limited relief but are not the answer to a long term solution. The tools needed to provide independence such as sufficient financial support, housing, and education are and always have been in short supply for survivors. 

Few tools are available to help under these circumstances. Police can conduct wellness checks.  Neighbors can report disturbances.  But those measures are stopgap, as well, unless backed up by long term remedies addressed in part above.  After years of education and advocacy addressing intimate partner abuse, the current reality is evidence that we have come no closer to eradicating violence from our culture than when we started. How will this inform advocates’ next steps?