COVID-19 and self-isolation: what to do when the danger is at home

For many of us home is a place of safety in times of difficulty stress and uncertainty. But for those who experience domestic violence home is often a place of violence danger and fear. According to government figures an estimated 1.6 million women and 786 000 men in England and Wales experienced domestic abuse last year which is a staggering figure.

Whilst highly sensible and necessary advice given the on-going coronavirus crisis the government’s latest ‘social distancing’ rules which are rapidly moving towards mass self-isolation are at odds with its own figures illustrating just how prevalent the risk of domestic violence is.  We know that reports of domestic violence cases surge during the summer and Christmas holiday periods during which time abusers spend more time with their families. There is a serious risk that under self-isolation perpetrators of abuse will be able to restrict their partner’s freedom and threaten their and their children’s safety in the same way and on the same scale. To compound the problem this is all happening at a time when support services...

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