This Pandemic Will Come to an End, but Domestic Violence Will Not.

The current world we live in is full of uncertainty and distress. Coronavirus has affected millions, keeping us locked indoors in fear of spreading the virus to loved ones. Nonetheless, Brits remain humble at home with friends, families, finances, and partners. For some, this reality is terrifying.

Before isolation, at least two women a week were killed by a partner or ex-partner. Since the pandemic began and lockdown measures put in place, domestic violence has risen, with some areas reporting as much as a 21% increase in just two weeks.

This pandemic has shed light on how overlooked domestic violence is and the urge for action. Funding for women refugees has been cut by 25% since 2010, with as many as 50 councils receiving no funding. Women’s Aid estimate that funding support in a safe and sustainable national network of refugees requires £173 million annually, a fraction of the £66 billion domestic abuse costs society every year. The government has been unresponsive.

Women’s lives are at risk, and it shouldn’t be left to underfunded refuges and charities alone to support them. “We think there has been a rise of 40% or 50%, and there was already really big demand,” said Adriana Mello, a Rio de Janeiro judge specialising in domestic violence. Labour wants to help address the rise in domestic violence and child abuse, but the government should have been more responsive at an earlier stage, learning lessons from international reports.

Lockdown has managed to trigger an intervention that should have been tackled a long time ago. Countries are creating, funding, and implementing clever steps to help women locked in abusive homes. In France, you can now report abuse in pharmacies. But the reason for this change is that the government is in crisis. They're looking at the COVID-related consequences for all social ills, such as access to housing, food safety, and neglect, especially for children. It is estimated that 2 million children in England face a range of vulnerabilities that have worsened during the pandemic.

According to Women’s Aid, 67% of survivors who are currently experiencing abuse said it has got worse since Covid-19, and 72% said their abuser had more control over their life.

Their website helps to highlight the situation victims find themselves in, through anonymous feedback, “I am reliant upon my abuser to get food and medication as I am shielding for 12 weeks; this is being used against me.” Often there is distress over child contact, “My abuser is withholding our young child in violation of our custody orders, I have had no contact with my child for weeks.” Women’s Aid is calling for at least £48.2m in emergency funding to help local services cope during this crisis.

The end is near for lockdown, but violence against women will not stop there. We will never "eliminate" gender-based violence if there is impunity for abusers and zero accountability for government bodies that fail to act by laws designed to protect these women. These interventions will continue to be necessary post-lockdown.

For so many women, leaving an abusive relationship is not a choice. We must question why it took a global pandemic to focus the government's mind on another devastating pandemic.