Shadow Pandemic

Stefan Cross Centre workshop explores the issue of domestic violence during the pandemic

On Wednesday 22 November the Stefan Cross Centre hosted editor Florence Seemungal and some chapter authors of the book “Domestic Violence and Abuse as a Shadow Pandemic – An International and Interdisciplinary View”. The book investigates, analyses and presents statistics to assess the claim by UN WOMEN that domestic violence constituted a ‘shadow’ pandemic to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Domestic violence was an overlooked issue in covid crisis response, and in many jurisdictions it grew significantly over the course of the pandemic due to the impact of lockdowns, and increased difficulty for victims accessing services.

“Shadow Pandemic” considers the drivers of violence, mitigation strategies, as well as state and agency responses. Covering data from more than 80 countries in North and South America, the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australasia, the workshop highlighted the intersectional dimension of the problem, as minority and vulnerable groups were worse effected, or found it harder to access help.