The higher risk of domestic & family violence during self or forced isolation. What your organisation needs to be aware of
Women in Gaming Australasia2020-03-19T11:46:10+11:00In this unprecedented time of the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be serious knock on effects felt by all. Some more obvious and pronounced than others. One serious impact which may not be so obvious but needs to be spoken about is Domestic and Family Violence (DFV). According to the United Nations, the most dangerous place for women is their home. It is way too early to gather data on any increase in DFV related to COVID-19 but what we know from every crisis (war, bushfires, major national events) is that DFV increases. Often the reporting of this violence comes out once the crisis has ended and it is safer for women to access support, so we won’t know the real impact of COVID-19 on the safety of women and their children until well after this has all died down. This is a unique case though where a because of the crisis, victims and their perpetrators are being asked (in some cases forced) to stay at home. For many victims the workplace is their only refuge from violence. We are already seeing heightened levels of angst, even anger, for what were once simple, stress-free tasks such as going to the [...]