Cindy Chen

When domestic violence is featured on the news, it is usually classified as a ‘domestic matter’, dismissed to the private, rather than public, sphere. With the Canadian government enacting Covid-19 stay-at-home orders, and as schools and workplaces close indefinitely, the safety of children and adults forced to stay indoors in abusive households are at risk.

Since domestic violence is a taboo topic, we underestimate the prevalence of intimate partner violence around us. In Canada, for instance, one in five women experience some type of intimate partner abuse. Violence rates are markedly higher for Indigenous women, as they are 3.5 times more likely than non-Indigenous Canadian women to experience spousal violence.  The statistics are even worse in the United States, where one in four women and one in nine men have endured some form of stalking, physical violence, or sexual violence from an intimate partner.

People do not disclose their abuse for various reasons, including out of shame and embarrassment. The 2014 Canadian workplace survey, ‘Can Work be Safe, When Home Isn’t?’, found that a third of respondents reported experiencing domestic violence, but only 43.2% of that subset of respondents mentioned it to someone at work. It is quite possible that a colleague you assume to be staying at home watching Netflix is silently enduring more acute and dangerous threats.

Now that we are confined to our own homes practising social distancing, it is harder to notice, and in turn easier to ignore, what is happening behind closed doors. In doing so, we as a community are abandoning victims and survivors of domestic violence at a time when they need support more than ever. 

“People who are abusive always use isolation as a tactic of abuse, attempting to control who their partner is able to see and spend time with. Now the public health measures that we need to put in place to protect everyone from Covid-19 is giving abusive partners even more power. We are seeing the weaponisation of public health measures.” Barbara MacQuarrie, Community Director of Canada’s Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women and Children, affirmed.

The restlessness and frustration that many of us already feel being stuck indoors becomes more dangerous in an abusive household, as the victim becomes the target of that frustration, which may manifest into verbal, emotional, physical, or sexual abuse. As business closures have led to mass layoffs, abusers thrust into economic insecurity are more likely to cope through violence against an intimate partner.

Abusers thrive on controlling their victims and their environment; job loss and economic uncertainty threaten their sense of power and control over their lives. “These stresses that we're all facing are going to cause [abusers] to escalate their behaviour," MacQuarrie adds.

Strictly confined to their homes, victims are more likely to be under constant, close surveillance. With reduced interaction with co-workers, teachers, or friends, and the inability to slip away to access support services like hotlines or counselling due to being trapped at home with an abuser, this pandemic can erase any sense of support and hope in victims’ lives, leaving them with a devastating sense of isolation.

The suggestion of leaving an abusive home or relationship is frequently posed as a straightforward solution to domestic violence. Far from the simple act of packing a bag and running out the door, leaving entails careful planning, short-term and permanent living arrangements, and sufficient funds, which can be particularly difficult if victims are financially dependent on the abuser. It requires the relocation of children to new schools, leaving their friends and pets behind.

The most dangerous (in other words, most deadly) time for victims is not when they are stuck at home, but when they attempt to leave the relationship, as abusers are more likely to react violently to losing control of their victim. People can also become inured to their situation, no matter how painful and dangerous it might be. In fact, victims take about five attempts before successfully leaving an abusive relationship. 

During a pandemic, leaving an abusive home or relationship becomes much more complicated as the abrupt change and necessary planning required to leave becomes increasingly difficult to obtain. With increased surveillance at home, isolation from support systems, and daily routines upended by cancelled schools and stay-at-home orders, the added risk of contracting Covid-19 adds to an exhausting list of concerns. Protection from Covid-19 can unfortunately be more effective in one’s home than in a shelter or a new, shared living situation. This stresses the urgency of implementing measures to provide support to victims and survivors of domestic abuse. 

There are hints of hope for domestic violence victims in Canada. As part of a Covid-19 emergency stimulus package, the federal government of Canada committed $40 million to fund immediate needs at women’s shelters and sexual assault centres, and an additional $10 million for emergency shelters serving Indigenous women and children fleeing violence.

While this commitment is a step in the right direction, it has already garnered criticism from organisations handling victim services, arguing that the funds’ stipulations are too limiting. Funds earmarked for public health measures against Covid-19 do not drastically increase shelter capacity, and will not finance much-needed public service campaigns to inform Canadians which select shelters are still open during the pandemic. Overall, it does little to address non-Covid-19 related challenges that women’s services are facing: many shelters and transition homes are already at capacity and are witnessing a steady climb in nationwide calls to abuse support lines.

As the lock-down persists and the severity of domestic violence grows, the Canadian government needs to expand their approach in supporting domestic violence victims. Specifically, additional funding is required to increase shelter capacity and text-based or online counselling availability for victims of domestic violence. Beyond handling immediate public health concerns, the Canadian government also needs to address the dangerous consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic within domestic spaces.

Being aware of the plight of domestic violence victims during this social isolation period can add to the helplessness many of us may be experiencing during this global health crisis, but there are small things we can do to ease the isolation that victims may be quietly enduring.

Check in with your friends, family members, neighbours, and co-workers through text, e-mail, messaging apps, calls, or maybe even Animal Crossing. Let them know that you care about their well-being and safety. Establish code words to reassure each other that you are okay. Donate to women’s shelters. 

We are all shut in, but we don’t have to be shut off from each other.

In Canada, consider calling the Assaulted Women’s Hotline for English services (1-866-863-0511), and Fem’aide for French service (1-877-336-2433).  In the United States, consider calling the National Domestic Violence Hotline (1-800-799-7233).

The art accompanying this piece is courtesy of © Marianna Giuliana (@marianna.disegniecosebelle).