Citation

Khan R, David S. Front. Glob. Womens Health 2021; 2: e788061.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Frontiers Media)

DOI

10.3389/fgwh.2021.788061

PMID

34957468

PMCID

PMC8692571

Abstract

The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic saw the introduction of many unprecedent actions occurring within our communities and by extension our country. Whilst many of us may have heard the term pandemic before, few would have had the knowledge or experience of the measures that were taken to contain coronavirus in our country. The introduction of lockdown measures such as the closure of public places like bars restaurants, malls, places of worship, gyms, spas and beauty services, casinos, cinemas (1); as well as, stay-at-home orders like working from home for non-essential persons and closure of all schools were just a few of the measures that were put into place to help curb the spread of COVID-19. The ramifications of these measures would pan out over time with some becoming apparent earlier than others and with grave consequences, particularly, an increase in acts of intimate partner violence.

Intimate partner violence is sometimes referred to as domestic violence since a large number of acts committed by perpetrators occur in the home. Locally, in Trinidad and Tobago prevalence rates as high as 41% have been reported with alcohol and drug abuse being cited as the leading cause (2). In 2017 alone the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) reported that there were 1,100 reports of domestic violence with 43 murders linked to domestic violence. According to the August 2020 report from the Trinidad and Tobago Central Registry on Domestic Violence, there were 7,594 reports related to domestic violence between the period 2014 to 2019. Approximately 75% of these reports were related to female victims. In 2019, there were 232 reports of domestic violence with 81% of reports being made by women, where 48.5% were between 30 to 49 years of age and 22.5% of women were between 18 to 29 years of age. In 2020, there were 556 cases of domestic violence that were reported. During the period of January to March 2021, there were 826 reports of domestic violence...

Language: en

Keywords

COVID-19 pandemic; intimate abuse; partner abuse; primary care (MeSH); Trinidad and Tobago