Contributing Writers: Azad Ali, Tangerine Clarke,
George Alleyne, Nelson King,
Vinette K. Pryce, Bert Wilkinson
GENERAL INFORMATION (718) 260-2500
Caribbean L 10 ife, April 3-9, 2020
By Annan Boodram
People who are forced to
self-isolate or follow mandated
shelter-in-place orders,
are at risk of being trapped
in abusive and coercive situations,
isolated from the
human and other resources
that could help them. The
pandemic has sapped victims’
outlets for relief: running
errands, speaking with counselors,
visiting friends. It has
shattered exit plans that some
victims have spent months
developing. The services
designed to support even the
most isolated of these victims
are struggling to help from a
distance. And the deluge of
stress and fear of unemployment,
of sickness, of death,
is intensifying the abuse they
face.
Domestic violence will
likely increase in social isolation
In many nations, communities
are already reporting
higher call volumes to local
domestic violence resources.
In China reports of domestic
violence have surged since
people have been confined
to their homes. In some
areas, calls to police stations
have increased threefold
compared to the same
period last year. Support services
in Australia reported an
increase in coronavirus-related
family abuse. In Italy and
Germany women’s groups are
already sounding the alarm.
Meanwhile nine people have
died in a string of domestic
killings as Britain entered its
second week under the coronavirus
quarantine according
the Daily Mail of March 30,
2020. In the United States the
National Domestic Violence
Hotline (NDVH) reports that
a growing number of callers
say that their abusers are
using COVID-19 as a means
of further isolating them
from their friends and family.
“Perpetrators are threatening
to throw their victims out on
the street so they get sick,”
Katie Ray-Jones, NDVH CEO
told TIME Magazine. “We’ve
heard of some withholding
financial resources or medical
assistance.”
In New York’s Nassau
County, domestic violence
incidents are already up 10%
compared to this time last
year, while the Cincinnatibased
organization Women
Helping Women is receiving
30% more calls now since
self-isolation started.
In Trinidad & Tobago the
Victim and Witness Support
Unit (VWSU) of the police
force says it has been preparing
for the anticipated
increases in domestic violence,
as the next few weeks
sees the country locked down
during the Stay at Home
order announced by the Government.
According to the
T&T Guardian of March 31,
over the last ten days, the
VWSU has assisted 48 victims
across the nation. While
there has been no information
about other Caribbean
nations one hopes that measures
are being considered, if
not already in place, to deal
with expected upsurge in
domestic violence.
Stress heightens the likelihood
for violence
Domestic violence cases
spike in times of prolonged
stress and disruption,
like financial crises and natural
disasters. During the
current pandemic, some of
that stress has driven people
to firearms dealers and
liquor stores in a number of
countries. Abusers often use
firearms to frighten victims,
but mere possession of a firearm
by an abuser, makes it
five times more likely that a
victim will be killed, according
to the US based Giffords
Law Center to Prevent Gun
Violence.
Global unemployment
has been rising astronomically.
A 2013 study reported
that as unemployment rates
rise, so do dangerous drinking
behaviors. And the World
Health Organization said evidence
suggests that excessive
alcohol consumption worsens
the severity and frequency of
domestic violence.
The economic impact
of the COVID-19 pandemic
has also plunged people into
financial insecurity, potentially
trapping them in abusive
situations. Without a stable
income, it is much more
difficult for victims to leave
violent partners and protect
themselves and their dependents.
Health concerns and job
losses also add pressure, causing
some people to experience
abuse for the first time.
“My husband won’t let me
leave the house,” a victim told
a representative of the US
NDVH over the phone. “He’s
had flu-like symptoms and
blames keeping me here on
not wanting to infect others
or bringing something like
COVID-19 home. But I feel
like it’s just an attempt to
isolate me.“ Her abuser has
threatened to throw her out
onto the street if she starts
coughing. She fears that if
she leaves the house, her husband
will lock her out.
“I spoke to a female caller
in California that is self-quarantining,”
a US NDVH advocate
wrote in the organization’s
logbook. “Her partner
strangled her tonight. While
talking to her, it sounded like
she has some really serious
injuries. She is scared to go
By Dr. PL de Silva
Dr. PL de Silva is Director,
Institute for Strategic Studies
and Democracy (ISSD) Malta
and Adjunct Professor, Institute
for Diplomacy and International
Relations, Seton Hall
University
NEW YORK, March 31, 2020
(IPS) – The writing is on the
wall for all to see from far and
wide — there is nowhere to
hide from this invisible enemy,
a new coronavirus, maybe with
the exception of self-isolation,
quarantined at home and even
then, we are not 100% safe.
An event of planetary magnitude
is currently being visited
upon homo sapiens (the
so-called ‘wise man’ in Latin)
— the primate species that
includes you and me and every
single other human being
inhabiting God’s good earth
— irrespective of nationality,
sovereignty, national borders,
ethnicity, race, tribe, caste,
color, creed, language, culture,
political faction, power, wealth
or the lack thereof.
UNHCR notes that “all of
us are truly only as safe as the
most vulnerable person”.
How we as a species, rise to
the challenge of overcoming
the global onslaught of COVID-
19 and the unstable environment
it has produced appears
to be a multiple trillion-dollar
question.
In fact, according to Reuters,
March 30, 2020 “The U.S.
Federal Reserve has offered
more than $3 trillion in loans
and asset purchases in recent
weeks to stop the U.S. financial
system from seizing up” and
yet, this biggest ever stimulus
package may not be big
enough.
According to the United
Nations, the world’s emerging
economies need a $2.5 trillion
rescue package in order
to cope.
COVID-19 is the real
McCoy
Dr. Mike Ryan, the executive
director of the World Health
Organization’s (WHO) Emergencies
Program, discussed the
global response to COVID-19
on Al Jazeera (March 27, 2020)
and noted: “It all started in
December last year, when cases
of an unusual pneumonia were
reported in the Chinese City
of Wuhan” in Hubei Province,
central China.
The early doubters, naysayers
and fake news peddlers —
who infamously claimed that
COVID-19 was just like flu’ —
have all been proven wrong. We
have a full-blown pandemic on
the rampage.
The COVID-19 coronavirus
infection rates breached the
half million mark with the U.S.
in pole position and is evolving
rapidly by tens of thousands
in a number of countries. The
death rates are equally alarm-
OP-EDS
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Continued on Page 11
Continued on Page 11
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Domestic Violence in the
coronavirus era
Life in the time of
COVID-19: Quo Vadis
Homo Sapiens?
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