By Maheen Maiya
The pandemic caused many challenges for people. When the first wave of the pandemic hit, the economy collapsed many people lost their jobs, some weren’t able to pay bills and support their families, hospitals were full, and did not have any beds available for patients or did not have enough first responders. Because of the pandemic, first responders were also impacted by covid. First responders became burned out, developed stressed, and anxiety. Covid-19 caused a lot of disasters, to say the least. Another disaster that rose during Covid, was the rise in domestic violence or “intimate terrorism”, especially during the lockdown. Victims of domestic violence were forced to lock down with their abusers. Home isolation was to help reduce the number of covid cases but it also gave power to the abuser. “Surveys around the world have shown a domestic abuse spiking since January 2020...Calls to domestic violence hotlines have soared since the pandemic”(Kluger, Time,2021 Feb. 07). Intimate terrorism also occurred in “same-sex couples at rates equal to or even higher than the rates in opposite-sex partners...Communities of color were affected more severely as well, with systemic inequalities often meaning lower-income access to social and private services…[during the pandemic] The rate of abuse increased dramatically to about 50%”(Kluger, Time,2021 Feb. 07). In a New York Times article, In China, a woman named Lele was abused by her husband. When she reported the abuse to the police, the police only documented the attack but took no further action. Lele hired a lawyer to file for divorce but even the divorce was postponed till April. This wait has forced her to continue living with her abuser. She was however looking for a new home during the outbreak but that proved to be difficult. Not all victims were able to contact officials about their abusers. the fight against domestic violence is real and people all around the world no matter what gender, race, ethnicity, or background can be affected by domestic violence.
Reference
Kluger, Jeffrey. "Domestic Violence Is a Pandemic within the Covid-19 Pandemic." Time. Time, 03 Feb. 2021. Web. 27 Aug. 2021.
Taub, Amanda. "A New Covid-19 Crisis: Domestic Abuse Rises Worldwide." The New York Times. The New York Times, 06 Apr. 2020. Web. 27 Aug. 2021.