Corona crisis: There is more threat of domestic violence
Christiane Fux studied journalism and psychology in Hamburg. The experienced medical editor has been writing magazine articles, news and factual texts on all conceivable health topics since 2001. In addition to her work for, Christiane Fux is also active in prose. Her first crime novel was published in 2012, and she also writes, designs and publishes her own crime plays.
More posts by Christiane Fux All content is checked by medical journalists.“Stay at home!” Is the most important appeal in the corona crisis. It serves to protect all those who are particularly threatened by Covid-19. But what if your own home is the most dangerous place? What if the virus is not the greatest danger, but your own partner, father or - in 20 percent of cases - your wife or mother?
In Wuhan, China, the number of reported cases of domestic violence tripled during curfew. In addition to fear of the disease, there are financial hardships and worries about the future, the cramped situation, restless children.
"The violence was there before"
"The violence was not caused by the corona crisis, it was there before," said Katja Grieger, Managing Director of the Federal Association of Women's Advice Centers and Women's Emergency Calls in Germany (bff) in an interview with
Pent-up aggression
However, due to the restriction to one's own apartment and the lack of alternatives, aggression builds up. Domestic violence experts know this as a phenomenon on public holidays, on which violence escalates more frequently - but instead of a few days, it is a matter of weeks.
In addition, the inhibition threshold to strike decreases because the consequences of the violence remain even more invisible. Otherwise bruises will become public, women will not show up for work because of their injuries, children will not show up in class or behave conspicuously. All of this is currently falling away.
Hardly any opportunity to seek help
This is not yet fully reflected in the German police statistics. The numbers are mixed and not all services reported an increase. This also applies to the advice centers: “But we have no reduction either. This is remarkable in that the opportunities to seek help for which women are currently severely limited, ”explains Grieger. "And those who get in touch have comparatively even greater worries than usual."
Increasing numbers only after the contact restrictions have been relaxed?
It is expected that the true extent will only become apparent when the contact restrictions are relaxed. "That was the case in Wuhan, and it also seems plausible here," says Grieger. Not only are the opportunities to contact us limited. The network that can encourage them to seek help also disappears.
When they need help now, the women make secret phone calls in the bathroom, on the way to the supermarket or take the opportunity when the man leaves the apartment for a moment. “Most counseling centers have reacted to this by considerably extending the telephone counseling hours. This is how women reach someone when they find an unobserved moment, ”says Grieger.
Conversion to telephone advice
If consultations are otherwise often face-to-face, most things are now done by phone, online or via video. Because here, too, it is important to reduce personal contact as much as possible. A lot of consultants work from the home office. Changing over there required a lot of organizational talent.
How help can be provided must be clarified in an individual discussion. Is the situation acute? Is it enough to ban the perpetrator from the house so that the woman can breathe deeply? Or is accommodation in a women's shelter necessary?
The bottleneck turns into the shortage
Here, too, the failures of the pre-Corona period are now threatening to tip over from bottlenecks to insufficient supply: "The entire support system was not well set up beforehand," says Grieger. Many do not even have the money for data-protected online tools and good telephone systems. In addition, the women's shelters in Germany are mostly full to overcrowded.
In some regions, the authorities pay for accommodation in hotels or holiday apartments. But there are not the same security precautions against violent partners as in the women's shelters.
Less employees, more work
In addition, you need more female employees for external support. Because the disturbed women and children cannot be dumped there and then overloaded. They need contact persons.
However, staff is also reduced in times of Corona: Here too, employees are in quarantine, belong to a risk group and therefore cannot work in the field, fall ill with Covid-19 or are absent for other reasons.
Civil courage is required
Therefore, people from the environment such as colleagues, friends and neighbors are called upon to be vigilant and show moral courage if there is suspicion that a partnership or family is threatened with violence. The advice centers also provide information on the best way to proceed in a specific situation by telephone and in person.
In acute violent situations, when screams and noise emanate from the neighboring apartment, one should overcome one's inhibitions and get involved. "Then we advise you to call the police on the emergency number 110 in any case," says Grieger.
The police could then first ban the perpetrators from entering the house, which would give the women a breather.
All of this applies not only in corona times, but always. Every fourth woman in Germany has experienced intimate partner violence at least once.
Offers of help
- Free nationwide helpline in 17 languages: Violence against women:
0800/116016,
http://www.hilfetelefon.de - Women against violence: https://www.frauen-gegen-gewalt.de/de/erreichbarkeit-von-hilfsangeboten.html
- White ring: https://weisser-ring.de/praevention/tipps/haeusliche-gewalt
- Advice for men with domestic violence potential: https://bundesforum-maenner.de/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/GZA_Merkblatt_Corona_DEUTSCH.pdf
