To better understand the unrecorded cases, Cara Ebert from the Leibniz Institute for Economic Research (RWI) in Essen and Prof. Janina Steinert conducted an online survey with partnered women (18–65 years) between 22 April and 8 May 2020, when participants had been under lockdown for a month. The survey is representative for Germany. They determined the prevalence of several forms of violence within the previous month using both direct elicitation and a list experiment. After that, they conducted a multivariable logistic regression to assess the impact of pandemic-associated risk factors.
Of the over 3800 survey respondents, 118 (3.09%; 95% confidence interval, CI: 2.54 to 3.64) reported incidents of physical conflict, 293 (7.67%; 95% CI: 6.83 to 8.52) reported emotional abuse, and 97 (6.58%; 95% CI: 5.31 to 7.85) of 1474 respondents with children reported child corporal punishment. We estimated that 3.57% (95% CI: −0.33 to 7.46) had non-consensual intercourse with their partner. The regression analysis revealed an increased risk of physical conflict with home quarantine (odds ratio, OR: 2.38; 95% CI: 1.56 to 3.61), financial worries (OR: 1.60; 95% CI: 0.98 to 2.61), poor mental health (OR: 3.41; 95% CI: 2.12 to 5.50) and young (< 10 years) children (OR: 2.48; 95% CI: 1.32 to 4.64); for other forms of violence similar results were obtained. Awareness and use of pertinent support services was low. The researchers concluded that the findings should prompt policy-makers to improve the safety of women and children. Interventions to alleviate risks factors and extend support services are required.
These points are also stressed in Prof. Janina Steinerts interview. Besides economical and psychological stress factors, the lack of social and institutional opprtunities for help, for example friends, doctors, or Kindergarden personnel, aggravated the situation.
Prof. Janina Steinert also elaborated underlying risk factors: Experiencing violence in ones family during childhood, substance abuse and mental health problems all increase the risk of becoming a victim or a perpetrator of domestic violence.
Unreported cases are suspected higher because women might feel ashamed, have an (internalised) stigma, or because their partner exerts too much control over their behaviour.
To break the violence, seeking help is very important. But this can be difficult for the victims because of the reasons named above, and particularly if own children are at direct or indirect risk. Thus, external support is crucial. She advises neighbours, friends, and acquaintances who notice potential problems or risks to rather call the police once more than needed or talk to the victims in a safe moment and offer help and provide them with contact options for professional help.
You can read the entire article with the interview and more information on the subject on the website of Spektrum der Wissenschaft (only available in German).
The research article can be found as an open-access pdf on the website of the Institutional Repository for Information Sharing (iris.) of the WHO.