Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.3935/zpfz.72.4.03
Domestic Violence During the Pandemic – Preliminary Results of Criminological Analysis
Anna-Maria Getoš Kalac
orcid.org/0000-0002-0016-764X
; Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Petra Šprem
orcid.org/0000-0003-4396-6887
; Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The global epidemic caused by the COVID-19 virus in 2020 changed the way the world functions, and it is to be expected that it will also affect the patterns of delinquent behavior. The only question is: how? In the light of criminological and sociological scientific findings on the effects of crises on the phenomenology of crime, scientists around the world have focused their efforts on comparing crime rates before and during the pandemic. Even though research shows that in 2020 the overall crime rate was declining, an increase in domestic violence was recorded in almost all countries in the world. Such a finding should not come as a surprise and at least on first thought seems plausible, since it has been widely discussed that due to the epidemiological measures the most vulnerable among us have been forcedly “locked down” in their homes together with their (potential) abusers. Using the ‘Calendar of Domestic Violence’ of the Croatian Ministry of the Interior, the authors analyze the frequency of criminal and misdemeanor reports of domestic violence in Croatia before and during the corona crisis in 2019, 2020 and 2021, as well as its incidence by county. Our research results show a slight rise in criminal reports of domestic violence, whereas misdemeanor reports display a slight decline, whereby our preliminary findings do not support the conclusion that these trends are a direct consequence of the pandemic or the “lock down”, but much more likely a direct consequence of normative reforms. It is however important to keep in mind the dark figure of domestic violence which remains hidden in this type of research, as well as the relatively short period of time the research focuses on.
Keywords
domestic violence; pandemic; COVID-19; Calendar of Domestic Violence; open data
Hrčak ID:
281831
URI
Publication date:
1.9.2022.
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