![]() ![]() As the restrictions were relaxed a bit, we saw an increase in the calls for help, but they could also mean that the situation might have escalated to a point where it would push someone to make calls they otherwise would not have before the pandemic. It meant that the opportunities to have a safe space to call or ask for help were limited. YANG: I do know that at the very beginning of the pandemic, the number of calls into hotlines were showing a decrease, but that didn’t mean that suddenly domestic violence was declining. ![]() GAZETTE: How did the reporting of domestic violence incidents fluctuate during the pandemic? In all those facets and all those ways, the risk goes up for violence. Also, beyond that, during a lockdown, the ability to get help is limited because you don’t have the private space to call somebody you’re isolated from your support system as a victim/survivor, and you can’t access your family and friends, the people that you rely on. In a lockdown, not only do you take away those breathing spaces, but you also increase the dynamics where domestic violence can occur. When people are working outside the home, interactions with their partner are limited to certain hours of the day, and the potential time for conflict is also limited. A lockdown increases the risk factors for domestic violence in multiple ways: there are more financial stressors because of income loss due to unemployment there is also the loss of the ability to have breathing spaces for people who are in risky relationships. That’s not to say that we should not have lockdowns, but there must be more focus on the resources to address those secondary impacts as well. There are good reasons for lockdowns to protect public health, but we have to recognize the collateral and unintended impacts as well. YANG: The increase in numbers really shows that there are unintended consequences to some of the lockdowns recommended by global health experts to address the pandemic. GAZETTE: What role did the pandemic play in the rise of risk factors for domestic violence? Domestic violence is prevalent everywhere.Īccording to all statistics I have seen from 2020-2021, domestic violence and intimate partner violence during the pandemic has increased because the risk factors have increased with lockdowns and pandemic restrictions. I don’t have anything more specific for Massachusetts, but there is no reason to believe that we are any different from the rest. by a little over 8 percent, following the imposition of lockdown orders during 2020. The National Commission on COVID-19 and criminal justice shows an increase in the U.S. The American Journal of Emergency Medicine said that domestic violence cases increased by 25 to 33 percent globally. YANG: In 2021, the United Nations published the report “Measuring the Shadow Pandemic: Violence Against Women During COVID-19.” It said that since the pandemic, violence against women has increased to unprecedented levels. GAZETTE: The most recent statistics about domestic violence during the pandemic are worrisome. The interview was edited for clarity and length. The Gazette spoke with Marianna Yang, lecturer on law and clinical instructor at the Family and Domestic Violence Law Clinic at WilmerHale Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School, about the crisis. domestic violence, and the National Domestic Violence Hotline ( The Hotline) received more than 74,000 calls, chats, and texts in February, the highest monthly contact volume of its 25-year history. In the United States, the American Journal of Emergency Medicine reported alarming trends in U.S. The United Nations called the situation a “shadow pandemic” in a 2021 report about domestic violence in 13 nations in Africa, Asia, South America, Eastern Europe, and the Balkans. Violence against women increased to record levels around the world following lockdowns to control the spread of the COVID-19 virus. ![]()
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