The Shadow Pandemic

In 2020, a global pandemic took the world by storm, putting life as we knew it on pause. No one needs a reminder of how difficult that time was—how isolation, uncertainty, and fear gripped every aspect of our daily lives. But while the world focused on COVID-19, another crisis was hiding in the shadows waiting to jump out. 

Lockdowns may have been necessary for public health, but for countless domestic violence victims, they were much more than a necessary confinement. COVID-19 didn’t just shut down businesses, schools, and social gatherings—it locked victims inside with their abusers, turning homes into prisons and cutting off lifelines to safety.

Domestic violence wasn’t born out of the pandemic, but it definitely flourished under its conditions. Stress, financial strain, and social isolation all intensified the risk factors for abuse. Victims who once found brief moments of relief by going to work, visiting friends, or running errands suddenly had nowhere to escape.

The statistics paint a grim picture:

• In France, domestic violence cases reported to authorities jumped by 42% in the first lockdown (Voice of America, 2020).

• Calls to domestic violence hotlines increased fivefold in some countries (UN Women, 2020).

• Nepal’s National Women Commission received 885 calls related to domestic violence between April and June 2020—twice the usual number (DNA India, 2020).

• Studies in the U.S. found that domestic violence reports increased between 6% and 21%, with the sharpest spike in the first five weeks of lockdown (Lock Haven, 2020).

Yet, while some helplines saw an increase in calls, others reported  a decline—not because domestic violence had come to a halt, but because victims were too trapped to reach out. As UN Women noted, “In others, formal reports of domestic violence have decreased as survivors find it harder to seek help and access support through the regular channels” (UN Women, 2020). Many victims had no safe way to call for help, no moment alone to seek refuge. How many women had escape plans that were shattered when lockdowns began?

The surge in abuse during the worlds confinement wasn’t only an unfortunate side effect of the pandemic—but a glaring indictment of a system that has long failed to protect victims and survivors. Even before COVID, domestic violence was a pervasive yet overlooked crises worldwide. The pandemic simply made the cracks in the system even more profound. 

Victims who managed to seek help often faced even more barriers:

• Court systems were backlogged, delaying protective orders and legal proceedings (NBC News, 2020).

• Some regions reduced jail populations, granting lower bonds to abusers to avoid overcrowding (NBC News, 2020).

• Shelters struggled to accommodate survivors due to social distancing restrictions (SBS News, 2020).

And yet, where was the urgency? When a pandemic swept across the world, governments mobilized resources and changed policies overnight. But when domestic violence rates soared, the response was far less swift.

Deeming domestic violence a  “shadow pandemic” suggests that it is a secondary crisis—one that bubbled beneath the surface of COVID. That framing is misleading. Domestic violence has never been in the shadows for those who endure it. It’s an ongoing, daily reality, a crisis that doesn’t fade when lockdowns are lifted.

Lucero Flores of The International Affairs Review put it plainly:

“As the number of COVID-19 cases escalated, women throughout the world reported an increased amount of domestic violence. The international community now faces a second pandemic: the shadow pandemic of domestic violence” (IAR-GWU, 2020).

What happens when there’s no pandemic to blame?  Society’s failure to protect victims existed long before COVID and still continues. The pandemic exposed the fragility of the safety net for victims. Society can choose to continue to ignore this or take action.

Some necessary steps include:

• Increased funding for shelters and crisis services so that no survivor is turned away (SBS News, 2020).

• Stronger legal protections to ensure abusers face consequences rather than lenient sentences (NBC News, 2020).

• Better education on healthy relationships, teaching respect rather than control (World Bank, 2020).

• More accessible emergency resources, ensuring victims can seek help even in times of crisis (UN Women, 2020).

It is time domestic violence is no longer treated as a secondary crisis but the emergency it has always been. 

Citations

• Flores, L. (2020) Addressing the Shadow Pandemic of Domestic Violence. The International Affairs Review. Link

• Voice of America (2020) UN Warns of ‘Shadow Pandemic’ as Domestic Violence Increases Globally. Link

• DNA India (2020) South Asia Witnesses 2 out of 5 Women Experiencing Domestic Violence, Says World Bank. Link

• Lock Haven (2020) Domestic Violence Rising During the Pandemic. Link

•NBC News (2020) Early Numbers Suggest Domestic Violence Homicides May Be on the Rise Around the US. Link

•SBS News (2020) How Domestic Violence Services Went Out of Their Way to Reach Women During the Pandemic. Link

•UN Women (2020) The Shadow Pandemic: Violence Against Women During COVID-19. Link

•World Bank (2020) Violence Against Women is a Pandemic. Link