The Covid-19 Pandemic has been one of the most complicated and deadly periods in our life time. The death toll is in the millions, the lockdown periods came with uncertainty, stressful and potentially deadly situations. A main concern for the lockdowns and restrictions was how people who are victims of domestic abuse may suffer more due to the inability to get away from the hostile enviorment.
Mental health was a major concern, patients who rely on routine checks and depend on external help were greatly affected because without their care then they may suffer with the restrictions on contact with those outside of your household. Many people began to wonder that without the help that was provided to them, could this isolation lead to abuse being caused within the household to their partner.
Statistics taken from the PSNI database provided the total cases of recorded domestic abuse calls from the year of 2019/20, to the years of 2020/21. Unsurprisingly, the cases did increase. the total amount of increase was by 364 more recorded incidents. The statistics also showed the difference between male and female cases which were staggering. The common belief was that women were to be seen as more likely to be the victim of domestic abuse, which was then backed up by the statistics.
The number of male cases was more than people expected, the old belief of how men can’t be victims of domestic abuse, which is now known to be false with not only the high profile trial of Depp vs Heard. Anonymous calls were also recorded, this was seen as either victims not wanting to reveal their abuser out of fear they would be found out, get into trouble. But another suggestion was that the victims were embarrassed and wished to remain anonymous to the police.
MA Journalism at Ulster University with Bachelors degree in Media Production. Love all things supernatural. Enjoy writing color pieces about tourism.
