Domestic Violence and Abuse, Coronavirus, and the media narrative

Following lockdown in countries around the world come reports of a ‘surge’ or ‘spikes’ in the number of domestic violence and abuse (DVA) cases. It is critical to contextualise this – more men are not starting to be abusive or violent, rather  the patterns of abuse are becoming more frequent. Spiking and surging make us think in terms of more one-off incidents – but it s more likely that the pattern of abuse  already there is increasing in terms of frequency and type because both parties remain together at all times. Amidst such a crisis it is imperative that we continue to see the dynamics of DVA as both a pattern of abusive behaviours and a product of gendered social and cultural norms rather than a reaction to a specific factor or event such as COVID-19.