The Influence of the Ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic on Family Violence in China
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
The Influence of the Ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic on Family Violence in China Hongwei Zhang 1
# Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract The unprecedented outbreak and continuous spread of the COVID-19 virus starting in December 2019 resulted in a strict lockdown and nationwide long-term home isolation, which has possibly led to increased levels of family violence in China. This commentary aims to explore two issues related to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on family violence in China, with intimate partner violence as its most common form. These two issues are whether the COVID-19 pandemic has indeed had a negative impact on family violence and, if so, what its specific influences upon family violence in China have been. This commentary is largely descriptive and based upon previously published literature and public statistical reports from newspaper, government, and criminal justice sources on family violence during the COVID-19 pandemic in China. Despite the lack of relevant and accurate nationwide statistics on family violence in China, multiple reports seem to suggest that family violence has surged during the COVID-19 pandemic. This increase in family violence may be primarily due to the large-scale lockdown that aggravates family conflicts, economic distress and tension caused by the pandemic among family members, and inadequate support for victims of family violence during the pandemic. Family violence has become an important social issue that needs to be dealt properly and swiftly during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Both governmental and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), as well as agencies and service sectors, need to be aware of the needs of family violence victims and provide appropriate and immediate assistance to the victims during the pandemic. A detailed discussion of the policy implications and suggestions for future research are provided at the end of this commentary. Keywords Family violence . COVID-19 pandemic . Lockdown . China
This commentary explores the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic upon family violence in China. In doing so, it aims to answer the following two questions: Has the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on family violence, with intimate partner violence as its most common form? If so, what specific influence has the pandemic had on family violence in China?
The Relationship between Pandemics and Family Violence: Theory and Literature The impact of social structural factors, including public health crises, upon family violence has been addressed by social * Hongwei Zhang [email protected] 1
Juvenile & Family Law Research Center,School of Humanities, Jinan University, Zhuhai, Guangdong, China
structural theory that views violence as an intrinsic part of a given social structure (McCall and Shields 1986; Gelles and Maynard 1987). According to this theory, family violence is a coping strategy or reaction to the stress/strain caused by social structural factors such as poverty, unemployment, homeles
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