Reporters Need to be Skeptical of Claims of ‘Spike’ in COVID-Related Abuse

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Rebecca Hain

Telephone: 513-479-3335

Reporters Need to be Skeptical of Claims of ‘Spike’ in COVID-Related Abuse

WASHINGTON / January 3, 2023 – Recent media accounts have revealed that the FBI pressured social media channels to suppress COVID-related information (1,2). Another example of misinformation was the claim that COVID-related stay-at-home policies caused a “spike” in domestic violence.

For example, on March 23, 2020 the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence issued an Alert claiming that, “Survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault are facing extreme danger and risk.” (3) Likewise, UN Women declared a “shadow pandemic of violence against women and girls” would result from lockdowns across the world (4). These alerts did not provide any factual evidence to support their claims.

The COVID lockdowns were first instituted in March 2020, and lasted one to two months (5). Four independent reports compared domestic violence indicators for 2019 with 2020. The reports concluded there was no increase in the incidence of domestic violence during the lockdown period:

Criminologist Matthew Ashby analyzed police calls for service for “domestic violence/family dispute” and found overall a 2% decrease in seven cities (6).
The National Domestic Violence Hotline revealed the number of answered inquiries to its hotline remained steady during this period:
- 2019: 362,897 (7)
- 2020: 363,185 (8)
The number of partner homicides committed by spouses, boyfriends, and girlfriends remained steady during the course of the pandemic (9):

- 2018: 1,251 partner homicides
- 2019: 1,182
- 2020: 1,191

The National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice concluded that “Domestic violence did not increase in the first quarter of 2021 over the first quarter of 2020.” (10)

Globally, analyses in Albania, Australia, Austria, Canada, England, India, Netherlands, Russia, Spain, and Tasmania likewise reported no increase in domestic violence as a result of COVID stay-at-home policies (11).

Reporters are urged to do careful fact-checking and verification of sources before making fictitious claims of a COVID-related “spike” in domestic violence cases.

Links: