Domestic violence increases amid pandemic

By Bahk Eun-ji

Cases of domestic violence are on the increase amid the COVID-19 pandemic as many people are forced to spend more time at home, according to women's groups and help call centers, Wednesday.

According to the 1366 Women's Emergency Call Center, 57.3 percent of calls it received for counseling from January to September were regarding domestic violence.

Civic activists call on the government to map out measures against domestic violence during a press conference in downtown Seoul in this Oct. 29, 2018 photo. Yonhap

Other data released by the Korea Women's Hot Line also showed the proportion of domestic violence cases among all provided counseling services increased from 26 percent in January ― before the coronavirus situation became serious here ― to 40 percent in March when the country began to see hundreds of new infections daily.

Experts say the increase has come as family members are working from home and attending online classes more than before the pandemic thus increasing family contact time in the home. But they say it has become more difficult for them to actively help victims due to the virus situation.

“Since in-person counselling has been suspended and we have to conduct telephone consultations only (because of social distancing measures), active intervention into domestic violence cases has become more difficult,” said Seo Jung-hee, a co-president of National Council for Domestic Violence Counseling.

“One day, a woman hurriedly hung up the phone during a counseling session saying 'I've got to go because my husband is working at home today,'” Seo said.

“The domestic violence counseling center was closed four times from February to June due to the pandemic and had to provided online support to the victims,” said Song Ran-hee, an official of the Korean Women's Hot Line.

She said shelters for domestic violence victims could not accept new entrants because of the COVID-19 pandemic as there were no guidelines related to quarantine measures at such shelters.

Experts point out that the government needs to come up with more thoughtful support systems, such as expanding temporary or protective facilities that can comply with social distancing measures, and actively publicize the government's support to prevent further blind spots that are enabling domestic violence to go unchecked amid the prolonged pandemic.