The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on domestic violence: The dark side of home isolation during quarantine

Abstract

Domestic violence is a global public health problem. It takes many different forms and leads to significant physical and psychological consequences for the victim and the whole family. Situations that may prompt episodes of violence in the family include stress, emotional disappointment, economic factors, bad and cramped housing, and alcohol or drug abuse. How does the government’s forced home isolation to contain Covid-19 infections impact on this type of abuse? Numerous articles have reported a decrease in reports of domestic violence since quarantine began but how reliable is these data? Is it a potential wake-up call for public institutions? We discuss the risks associated with quarantine measures during the pandemic and suggest the measures to prevent and improve the reporting of abuse cases.

Keywords

Domestic abuse hidden Covid-19 and quarantine impact of forced isolation with an abuser prevention and detection strategies

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

World Health Organization. Violence and injury prevention, www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/en/ (accessed 28 March 2020).

Breiding

Smith

Basile

, et al. Prevalence and characteristics of sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence victimization – national intimate partner and sexual violence survey, United States, 2011. MMWR Surveill Summ 2014; 63: 1–18.

Iratzoqui

Domestic violence and the victim/offender overlap across the life course.

Int J Offender Ther Comp Criminol 2018; 62: 2801–2816.

Bensley

Van Eenwyk

Wynkoop Simmons

Childhood family violence history and women’s risk for intimate partner violence and poor health. Am J Prev Med 2003; 25: 38–44.

Giubilini

Douglas

Maslen

, et al. Quarantine, isolation and the duty of easy rescue in public health. Dev World Bioeth 2018; 18: 182–189.

1522. Numero anti violenza e stalking. Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri e delle Pari Opportunità, www.1522.eu/ (accessed 28 March 2020).

Aquila I, Boca S, Caputo F, Sacco MA, Gratteri S, Fineschi V, Ricci P. An Unusual Case of Sudden Death: Is There a Relationship Between Thyroid Disorders and Fatal Pulmonary Thromboembolism? A Case Report and Review of Literature. Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 2017; 38(3): 229–232.