According to the BASW Covid-19 surveys in April 2020 and January 2021, domestic violence escalated during the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns. Over a 1000 social workers responded to both surveys, and both reported over two-thirds agreeing that domestic violence had increased beyond figures they were seeing before the pandemic struck.
Whilst the pandemic does not cause abuse (only perpetrators are responsible for that), abusers have weaponised lockdown conditions to isolate victim-survivors, monitor their time and activities, control finances, restrict access to basic needs, threaten, humiliate, and cause untold physical and emotional harm.
Social workers are all too familiar with the devastating impact of domestic abuse; everyone of us can testify to the domino effect on physical and mental health, education, relationships, child sexual exploitation, vulnerability to gang exploitation, and more.
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