Family violence and COVID-19: Increased vulnerability and reduced options for support

Abstract

<p>Family violence refers to threatening or other violent behaviours within families that may be physical, sexual, psychological, or economic, and can include child abuse and intimate partner violence (Peterman <i>et al</i>. 2020, van Gelder et al. 2020). Family violence during pandemics is associated with a range of factors including economic stress, disaster-related instability, increased exposure to exploitative relationships, and reduced options for support (Peterman <i>et al</i>. 2020). Due to the social isolation measures implemented across the globe to help reduce the spread of COVID-19, people living in volatile situations of family violence are restricted to their homes. Social isolation exacerbates personal and collective vulnerabilities while limiting accessible and familiar support options (van Gelder et al. 2020). In many countries, including Australia, we have already seen an increase in demand for domestic violence services and reports of increased risk for children not attending schools (Duncan, 2020), a pattern similar to previous episodes of social isolation associated with epidemics and pandemics (Boddy, Young & O'Leary 2020). In Australia, as stay-at-home orders came into force, the police in some parts of the country reported a 40% drop in crime overall, but a 5% increase in domestic abuse call-outs (Kagi 2020). At the same time in Australia, Google reported a 75% increase in Internet searches relating to support for domestic abuse (Poate 2020).</p>