Photo: coalitionagainstdomesticviolence.org
BY: JULIA PRICE & OLIVIA WISBEY, SUMMER 2021 COLLABORATORS AT POWER IN PLACE
As many states begin to reopen this summer, ditching masks and quarantine protocols can almost make it feel as though the pandemic was a mere blip in many of our lives. Nevertheless, the victims of this devastating pandemic–especially the victims that have suffered silently behind quarantine’s closed doors–must not be left out of the narrative. Intimate partner violence in particular, sometimes interchangeably termed domestic violence and abuse, has been exacerbated by COVID-19 as a skyrocketing number of individuals–prominently women–have faced IPV in these new circumstances. Due to the pandemic’s creation of inescapable quarantine spaces, inaccessible healthcare, and a widening of the gender poverty gap, many experts in the field reported a terrifying uptake in IPV over the course of the pandemic.
While quarantine was essential to slowing the spread of the novel coronavirus, mandated quarantine has had a number of negative social and psychological consequences. One tragic consequence has been the social isolation and increased violence faced by victims of IPV. Stay-at-home orders forced uninterrupted time at home, and many abuse hotlines noted a staggering decrease in calls by roughly 50% since the pandemic started [1]. The missing calls were not treated as any victory, for there was no sign that IPV itself had abated: rather, it was increasingly clear that women were struggling to make safe calls to social services as their abusers monitored their every move. Furthermore, as healthcare offices closed their doors to the public and opted for Telehealth, healthcare professionals lost additional opportunities to identify victims of IPV and report such abuse to authorities. Mandated reporters are imperative to fight against instances of intimate partner violence, because most of those who experience IPV will not seek help at first on their own. Without any access to healthcare professionals and services, many women amidst the pandemic lost their only lifeline.
Despite the missing calls, it became increasingly clear that the breakdown of support networks for IPV victims had resulted in domestic violence rising to levels far higher than seen in typical years. According to the American Journal of Emergency Medicine, “police departments report[ed] increases in cities around the county: for example, 18% in San Antonio, 22% in Portland, Ore.; and 10% in New York City” [2]. It must also be noted that although the increase in IPV has affected all people, the percentage of violence has been particularly high for those most marginalized. For example, while only a third of white women reported experiencing IPV during the pandemic, “the rates of abuse increased dramatically to about 50% and higher for those marginalized by race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, citizenship status, and cognitive physical ability” [2]. Undocumented women in particular, who have dealt with extreme economic hardship and a lack of access to social services, have faced some of the most extreme violence during the pandemic [3].
One of the ways in which women can escape situations of IPV is by acquiring economic independence. However, this is no simple task. Our patriarchal society tends to force women into situations of economic precarity. A major contributing factor to this feminized poverty is that “reproductive labor”–such as raising children, cooking, and maintaining the household–is completely unpaid (albeit highly necessary!) labor. While women typically spend hours of their day completing this unpaid reproductive labor, it has traditionally been socially acceptable for men to avoid reproductive labor and instead increase their economic power. This gender poverty gap has only worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. When childcare centers and schools closed their doors, women were often forced to quit their jobs and assume full childcare responsibilities. As a result, women’s economic independence plummeted this past year. By May 2021, “56 percent of American women [were] working for pay, the lowest level since 1986” [4]. This drastic loss of economic independence, in addition to considerably decelerating women’s gains in the paid labor force, has also ultimately worsened the livelihoods of women attempting to escape situations of IPV.
As we emerge from quarantine, we must ensure that we do not forget this silent pandemic of intimate partner violence. Although the increase in IPV has often occurred behind closed doors, its effect will be felt for years to come. It is imperative to both raise awareness to the issue and to also call on our legislators to make serious changes to policies to better serve those who experience IPV. As more and more resources are funnelled into pandemic relief, there must also be significant funding allocated to programs and services that support victims of IPV. Only an increase in public advocacy and funding will assure that victims of IPV have continued access to support services in all circumstances.
References:
Evans, Megan et al. “A Pandemic within a Pandemic — Intimate Partner Violence during Covid-19.” NEJM. December 10, 2020. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2024046.
Kluger, Jeffrey. “Domestic Violence and COVID-19: The Pandemic Within the Pandemic.” Time. February, 3 2021. https://time.com/5928539/domestic-violence-covid-19/.
Sabri, Bushra et al. “Effect of COVID-19 pandemic on women's health and safety: A study of immigrant survivors of intimate partner violence.” Health care for women international vol. 41,11-12 (2020): 1294-1312. doi:10.1080/07399332.2020.1833012
Cain Miller, Claire. “The Pandemic Created a Child-Care Crisis. Mothers Bore the Burden.” The New York Times. May 17, 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/05/17/upshot/women-workforce-employment-covid.html.
Julia Price is a rising junior at Middlebury College majoring in International and Global Studies and minoring in linguistics. She is interested in feminism and reproductive justice. She also enjoys narrative podcasts, language learning, and intramural soccer.
Olivia Wisbey is a rising senior at Colgate University pursuing a double major in English literature and political science. She is interested in feminism, environmentalism, and the ways in which fiction can be a medium of advocacy for issues of social justice. On campus, Olivia is a writing center consultant and is involved with the Colgate Center for Outreach, Volunteerism and Education.