Nowhere to go: victims of domestic violence during quarantine have a particularly hard situation

BBC journalists drew attention to the increasing incidence of domestic violence cases caused by the regime of self-isolation of Russians. It is a disturbing fact that the crisis center employees who helped the victims of violence are also now in quarantine, so there is essentially nowhere to wait the help from - even to go to the hospital and the police today is a very difficult thing.

Anything can be the reason for the outbreaks of this kind. So, a woman named Maria, her husband, who worked in the service sector in a private company, was dismissed after Putin sent the whole country on vacation. There were no accumulations in the family, a nervous breakdown occurred:

“I do not condone him, but I tried to understand him and reassure him at first that we could handle it, well, cut it off somewhere, save some money,” says Maria. - But when it was announced that in the near future they did not plan to work, that it would be a long time, he became very nervous. Naturally, no one canceled any fees. Have we stopped the water meters? They are shaking furiously now, because everyone is at home. Stopped the electricity? We both paid, and we pay. And you can’t tell the children: sew up your mouth. He began to speak out to me, then, naturally, alcohol. How does a man relieve stress? At first there were insults, then waved the flowers broke: why is this all! He began to beat things, to throw at us. I am a non-drinker, I tried to talk with him, he calmed down for a while, then again lost his temper. Everything was smashed at home - from the aquarium to the refrigerator. We had nowhere to go, the children were so scared that the little daughter screamed: Mom, let's go to the porch ... ”Doctors recorded soft tissue bruises and blunt abdominal trauma in Mary.

Meanwhile, human rights defenders around the world have long warned that domestic violence during an epidemic will also take on an epidemic character. People will not be able to safely survive the forced isolation in a confined space, they will vent their anxieties and irritation primarily on the weak - on children, the elderly, women ...

In China, as is known, cases of domestic violence tripled, in France by 32%, in Brazil by 50%, and in Australia by as much as 75%.

There is nothing to say about Russia, this problem in our country was very acute and without any epidemic, and today even more so. Indeed, by the grace of the State Duma, the victims of domestic violence have no protective orders, as in all civilized countries, there are not enough crisis centers and shelters for them. The police, even without an epidemic, were very reluctant to respond to appeals on such occasions, and now they refuse at all, citing the fact that she has neither time nor energy — everything went to the “reinforcement mode” - patrolling the streets and blocking entrances and exits to settlements.

And the victims also have nowhere to go in such situations - self-isolation is everywhere, and crisis centers are closed for quarantine.

So far, the Crisis Center on Timiryazevskaya and the Nadezhda Center are still working for Moscow residents with a residence permit (in addition to a passport, SNILS and a medical policy, it also requires a certificate of lack of contact with infectious patients issued on the day of the call to the center - that is, still need to run to the clinic).

In general, the situation, according to experts interviewed by journalists, is complicated by the fact that in quarantine it is very difficult to simply seek help, since the aggressor is always nearby. They advise you to write messages on messengers in instant messengers or ask their friends and relatives to call.

After a long ordeal, the heroine of Maria’s publication with children managed to escape and find shelter in a crisis apartment in the Ruza district, open just two weeks before quarantine.

She blames the extreme situation for everything: “The situation - how you cook in the boiler. People should not be in a confined space all the time. Children have nowhere to go, they are furious, annoying each other, noise, din, they are overexcited. Of course, I tried to be with them, distract. And men get tired of children when children are around the clock. ”

The sensation of an invisible threat also influences: “All these conversations that it is so scary, but still people do not fully understand, and we did not understand. There are no sick acquaintances, there is no peak to fall directly on the street. And many do not understand why we are sitting at home, why it is impossible to communicate at all? Why? I dont know. What are the signs of this coronavirus - no one really says either how much we looked on the Internet, my husband says: how can I understand if a person sneezed at me, is it a coronavirus or something else? .. ”

Psychologists believe that in a situation where it is impossible to get away from a rapist who cannot manage his panic and therefore shows aggression, in no case can he justify himself, but it is better to take on the role of a parent and calm the aggressor as a panicking child. To tell him about his strengths, to remind him of his successes, to recall what occupation can relieve his anxiety ...

But if physical aggression has already begun, then you need to escape in any way. In this situation, human rights activists urge the authorities to pay hotel victims rooms that are still empty, as they did in France - having bought 20,000 beds. But the Russian authorities, as usual, prefer to remain silent.