Guest editorial
| Date | 29 May 2023 |
| Pages | 181-182 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JACPR-07-2023-793 |
| Published date | 29 May 2023 |
| Author | Roxanne Khan |
Guest editorial
Roxanne Khan
Domestic abuse and family violence in the UK: the impact of COVID-19
In recognition of the many efforts made to increase our knowledge about experiences of
domestic abuse during the pandemic, the Journal of Aggression, Conflict, and Peace
Research (JACPR) is publishing this Special Issueon Domestic Abuse and Family Violence
in the UK: the Impact of COVID-19.
This collection of papersis publishedthree years after the first national lockdown and stay-at-
home orders in March 2020. This unprecedented governmental response, to restrict the
spread of virus, hada devastatingimpact on innumerable people, for myriadreasons.
In what UN Women (2020) termed a “shadow pandemic”, the already epidemic levels of
domestic abuse spiked rapidly. For many victims living in the same home or community as
their abusers, all known ways of coping, surviving or escaping were instantly lost. The
sanctuary of the workplace, or respitewhen an abuser was at work, was no longer an option.
Almost immediately, reportsof violence in family settings caused alarm across the domestic
abuse sector; in the first three weeks of lockdown,domestic killings in the UK doubled and at
least 14 women,1 man and two children were murdered (Khan etal.,2020;Smith, 2020).
As weeks turned into months,the impact of COVID-19 on domestic abuse and family violence
intensified. Enflamed by adopting, then easing, lockdown measures to restrict movement,
24-h news reports of risk of contagion and increasing death rates, and widely publicised
protests and riots. Having endured over two years in the throes of a public health crisis,
victims’ lives werefurther strained by family, social and economic tensions.
While research studies during this period have explored the impact of COVID-19 in many
facets of social life, none have brought these together in one volume of work to focus
specifically ondomestic abuse in the UK.
Due to the broad range of issues covered, thiscollection of papers adds new dimensions to
our understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on domestic abuse, in post-Brexit, pandemic-
weary UK. Purposelya mix of research studies, reviews and opinion pieces, these papersare
authored by academics who research, and professionals who work, in the criminal justice
system:
䊏Appointed just prior to lockdown, the first Domestic Abuse Commissioner for England
and Wales, Nicole Jacobs (2023), shares her viewpoint about the landmark Domestic
Abuse Bill 2021, and holding agencies and government to account in tackling domestic
abuse at a time of national crisis.
䊏Rowland (2023) discusses the complexities of delivering Domestic Homicide Reviews
during the pandemic –on overcoming the challenges of keeping victims at the heart of
the process, while managing the emotional toil of conducting reviews while working
remotely, and from home.
䊏A commentary by Franklin-Corben and Towl (2023) provides insight into the measures
adopted in the Higher Education sector in response to Gender Based Violence. They
explore the impact of the early stages of the pandemic, and the changes since made to
the provision of specialist service delivery, over two years on.
Roxanne Khan is based at
the Department of
Psychology, UCLAN,
Preston, UK.
DOI 10.1108/JACPR-07-2023-793 VOL. 15 NO. 3 2023, pp. 181-182, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1759-6599 jJOURNAL OF AGGRESSION, CONFLICT AND PEACE RESEARCH jPAGE 181
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