Family and Domestic Violence, Disasters and the COVID-19 Restrictions

The end of January 2020 marked the beginning of widespread Government enforced social restrictions across the globe. These ranged from communities being placed under total lockdown to the introduction of ‘stay at home’ directives as coronavirus (Covid-19) travelled the world. Academic and media commentators have become increasingly focused on the unintended consequences of these required changes in social behaviour, within which the potential for increases in violence(s) against women and children has become an issue of focal concern. It is well documented that disasters, from tsunamis, to earthquakes and bushfires, have the capacity to add significantly to the toll paid by women and children at the hands of primarily male perpetrators. Work in India (Rao, 2016), the Philippines and Vietnam (Nguyen, 2018), Iran, (Sohrabizadeh, 2016) and Japan (Yoshihama et al, 2019), all point to the increase in stresses placed on family life as a result of disasters. These events frequently take their toll on the poorest members of a community on a wide range of dimensions including economic abuse and violence(s). The consequences are gendered (True, 2013). Lauve-Moon and Ferreira (2017) and Parkinson (2019) have pointed to the ways in which, when disasters happen, the vulnerabilities of those living with violence in their lives become compounded and their needs more complex. This finding is reiterated in recent reports by Pfitzner et al (2020a, 2020b) for women living under lockdown in Australia. In addition, evidence from other epidemics (like Ebola and Zika) pointedly indicates that access to health care as well as social protection, education, and justice becomes problematically compounded for women and children (Fraser 2020). Parkinson (2019) also observed that when disasters occur, in which the imperative is for everyone to pull together, violence against women and children can become invisible. From the global to the local, concerns have been raised about the impact of the public policy embrace of ‘stay at home’ directives especially for women and children. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women, stated that confinement would foster tension and strain created by security, health and money worries increasing isolation for women with violent partners. She described the situation as “a perfect storm for controlling, violent behaviour behind closed doors,” naming the gendered consequences of Covid-19 isolation restrictions as ‘The Shadow Pandemic’ (UN Women 2020).

2020年1月末，随着新冠病毒（COVID-19）在全球蔓延，各国政府陆续在全球范围内推行大范围社交管控措施，涵盖社区全面封控、“居家”指令出台等多种形式。学术与媒体评论者愈发关注这些强制社交行为变革所带来的意外后果，其中针对妇女与儿童的暴力行为风险上升这一议题，已成为核心关切焦点。已有大量研究证实，从海啸、地震到丛林大火，各类灾害均可能大幅加剧妇女和儿童遭受以男性施暴者为主的暴力行为所带来的伤害。印度（Rao，2016）、菲律宾与越南（Nguyen，2018）、伊朗（Sohrabizadeh，2016）以及日本（Yoshihama等，2019）的相关研究均表明，灾害会给家庭生活带来显著压力。此类事件往往会从经济虐待、暴力行为等多个维度，对社区中最弱势群体造成冲击，且其影响具有鲜明的性别特征（True，2013）。Lauve-Moon与Ferreira（2017）以及Parkinson（2019）指出，当灾害发生时，本就生活在暴力环境中的人群其脆弱性会进一步加剧，需求也更为复杂。Pfitzner等（2020a、2020b）针对澳大利亚封控期间女性群体的近期研究也印证了这一发现。此外，埃博拉、寨卡等其他传染病疫情的相关证据明确显示，妇女和儿童在获取医疗保健、社会保护、教育与司法服务方面面临的困境会进一步恶化（Fraser，2020）。Parkinson（2019）还观察到，当灾害发生且全社会被要求齐心协力共渡难关时，针对妇女和儿童的暴力行为往往会被忽视。从全球到地方层面，公共政策推行的“居家”指令所带来的影响，尤其是对妇女和儿童的影响，已引发诸多担忧。联合国妇女署（UN Women）执行主任Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka指出，居家隔离会因安全、健康与经济担忧引发紧张与压力，加剧与暴力伴侣共同生活的女性的孤立状态。她将这种局面描述为“闭门控制与暴力行为的完美风暴”，并将新冠疫情隔离限制措施带来的性别化后果称为“影子大流行”（UN Women，2020）。