Increase in Domestic Violence During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Domestic violence, also called domestic abuse, may be defined as a sequence of conduct in any relationship that is made use of to get or retain power and control over a spouse or close partner. At present, the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic has reduced, and it has become endemic in most countries. However, at its peak, the pandemic unleashed mayhem and ravaged cities and populations worldwide. The fear of contracting the virus superseded every consideration and the governments hastily enforced strict lockdowns to curb the spread of the contagion. Social distancing, isolation, quarantine, a new normal became part of the lexicon of day-to-day life. What governments failed to contemplate was the shadow pandemic, which was surreptitiously gaining ground, faster even than the spread of the Coronavirus.