Domestic violence against women and the Covid-19 pandemic: what does the literature highlight?

Abstract

The study aims to describe the relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic and domestic violence against women. This is a theoretical-reflective study, based on a critical reading of current scientific studies on domestic violence against women and the COVID-19 pandemic. Six categories were created that highlight the problem of domestic violence as a gender issue, which was aggravated by social distance; discuss the mental repercussions caused by violence and pandemic and highlight the economic crisis as an aggravating factor of domestic violence and intensified by it; and discuss the professional difficulties in assisting women in situations of violence during the pandemic and list coping strategies. It is noticed that the studies reinforce that the causality of domestic violence against women is anchored in gender inequalities; and although the pandemic is not the direct cause of the phenomenon, it stands out for instilling greater female vulnerability to this disease.