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Introduction

Domestic violence (DV) has always been an issue within societies. However, recently the situation has gotten much worse. As a result of the COVID-19 restrictions on households, studies have indicated an increase in domestic violence within families and intimate relationships, and a hindered ability to seek help. COVID-19 has indicated a major weakness of current efforts to address domestic violence that desperately needs to be addressed.

Connection to STS Theory

This has a strong correlation with STS as technology is required to both report violence, and to prevent it from happening. Path Dependence Theory, which can be explained as a resistance to change caused by an unwillingness to do something different, has plagued the current domestic violence, or DV  services and more specifically, hotlines. Furthermore, with families being isolated to their homes because of unemployment and quarantine, DV hotline calls have become even less safe and effective than before (Evans et al. 2020). Investment in making DV hotlines more accessible would greatly improve safety and comfort in many household across the country. The first step in fixing the shortcomings in technology is to stop thinking with path dependence mindset, and instead realize that there is a lot of room to improve.

Data Suggesting an Increase in Domestic Violence

Since the start of the widespread quarantine in the U.S. and other parts of the world, data has suggested a large increase in domestic violence cases. For example, one study from the UK reported that the amount of domestic violence hotline calls “increased by 25% in the seven days following the announcement of tighter social distancing and lockdown measures” (Bradbury‐Jones, C., & Isham, L. 2020). However, as another study reported, this is not a “significant year-over-year jump” in patients who sought medical help because of abuse (Mozes, Alan). These various studies provide indisputable evidence that violence has increased with the start of the pandemic.

These findings are very worrisome as domestic violence levels pre-COVID have already been significantly high. While the violence has never been something to tolerate, it now cannot be ignored, as studies are showing a seemingly parabolic increase of cases post-COVID.

Difficulties of Current DV Services

While the amount of domestic violence has clearly increased, the inefficient ways of reporting it have stayed the same. It is apparent that the number of violence cases has gone up, although in some places the amount of calls reporting domestic violence have gone down: “In some regions, the number of calls dropped by more than 50%” (Evans et al. 2020). Although as the article suggests, the decrease in calls to these hotlines is likely not a result of less violence, and instead, is because of something preventing victims from being able to safely call into the hotline services. One possible explanation for this is that because people are more confined to their homes because of COVID-19, they are also less able to call the hotline from a safe area, away from their abuser.  In addition to the lack of calls, with some schools shut down due to safety measures, kids are not capable of reporting parental abuse to the schools they go to (Herrero et al. 2020).  Reporting domestic violence is the first step in stopping it. With the ways COVID-19 is currently affecting the world, domestic violence is not getting reported as well as it should be.

Unfortunately, the problem is much worse when you look at urban vs. rural domestic violence. In a study published earlier this year, researchers found that over 25% of the women surveyed who live in rural areas need to travel at least 40 miles to seek assistance for domestic violence (Hansen, J. A., & Lory, G. L. 2020).
Surprisingly, this is not all, as the same study also found that the rural women surveyed “also reported higher levels of severity [of domestic violence] than their urban counterparts” (Hansen, J. A., & Lory, G. L. 2020). Clearly, while there are shortcomings in DV services across the country, rural areas should be a priority for improvement because of these upsetting statistics.

The Similar Effect of Natural Disasters on Domestic Violence

It is no surprise that COVID-19 has affected violence in the ways it has, considering other “natural disasters” have led to the same outcome. For instance, “in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, one study reported a fourfold increase in rates of gender-based violence, primarily driven by partner violence” (Kofman, Y. B., & Garfin, D. R. 2020). Additionally, similar findings in the same study were found for the other disasters studied. The increase in violence can be linked to the stress, as a large disaster brings stress upon a society, and with this added stress comes shorter tempers and generally more abuse between close relationships. These findings are significant because it ensures that the increase in violence during COVID is not a fluke and has happened many times before with other stressful events.

Conclusion

Domestic violence is a complex issue with no simple solution. However, since the rise of COVID-19, and all of the negative things it has brought, domestic violence has shown a stark increase. This is alarming as the current DV prevention systems, as well as the ways to report the violence, are both not robust enough to handle the increase. In addition, the current methods are not well-suited to a pandemic, leading to a lack of DV reports, even though instances are increasing. This situation needs to be corrected soon before too many people are negatively affected by this increase. As an individual, there is not much that can be done to prevent this violence, although social distancing to stop COVID-19 and spreading awareness on the situation are both good starting points. The sooner we can end this pandemic, the sooner victims of DV will have access to outlets to escape their situations.

References

Bradbury‐Jones, C., & Isham, L. (2020). The pandemic paradox: The consequences of COVID‐19 on domestic violence. Journal of clinical nursing. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jocn.15296

Evans, Megan L., et al. A Pandemic within a Pandemic – Intimate Partner Violence during Covid-19: NEJM. New England Journal of Medicine, 22 May 2020, www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2024046.

Hansen, J. A., & Lory, G. L. (2020). Rural victimization and policing during the covid-19 pandemic. American Journal of Criminal Justice. https://doi-org.libproxy.clemson.edu/10.1007/s12103-020-09554-0

Herrero, Ana, and Anthony Faiola. For Women and Children around the World, a Double Plague: Coronavirus and Domestic Violence. The Washington Post, 6 Sept. 2020, www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/coronavirus-domestic-violence/2020/09/06/78c134de-ec7f-11ea-b4bc-3a2098fc73d4_story.html.

Kofman, Y. B., & Garfin, D. R. (2020). Home is not always a haven: The domestic violence crisis amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 12(S1), S199–S201. https://doi-org.libproxy.clemson.edu/10.1037/tra0000866

Mozes, Alan. Study Finds Rise in Domestic Violence During COVID. WebMD, 18 Aug. 2020, www.webmd.com/lung/news/20200818/radiology-study-suggests-horrifying-rise-in-domestic-violence-during-pandemic

Piquero, A. R., Riddell, J. R., Bishopp, S. A., Narvey, C., Reid, J. A., & Piquero, N. L. (2020). Staying home, staying safe? A short-term analysis of covid-19 on dallas domestic violence. American Journal of Criminal Justice. https://doi-org.libproxy.clemson.edu/10.1007/s12103-020-09531-7

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