We suspected that the wave of feminicides that hit Quebec in 2021 was linked in one way or another to the COVID-19 pandemic, but now a study from the University of Sherbrooke has confirmed that the episodes of confinement imposed to protect the population from the virus have caused the cases of domestic violence to explode.
According to data compiled by research from three medical students – Ariane Pelletier, Alycia Therrien and Marie-Aude Picard-Turcot – under the supervision of Dr. Mélissa Généreux, more than one in six women in a relationship (17.6%) was experiencing some form of spousal violence in Quebec in October 2021. In addition, 3.2% of women reported experiencing physical violence at that time.
If we could clearly observe an increase in reports of serious cases, leading to police interventions, support by aid resources or tragically to murders, “what we did not know was at what point behind every feminicide, there is a high number of women who live in an unhealthy climate,” emphasizes Dr. Généreux.
“We did not know the extent of domestic violence a little more invisible, which is not reflected in requests for help,” she adds.
These figures were obtained from online questionnaires sent to more than 3,500 women in couples at four key moments of the pandemic, between November 2020 and October 2021.
For comparison, data from the 2019 General Social Survey (GSS) indicated that in Canada “1.5% of women reported having experienced spousal violence in physical or sexual form” in the previous year. .
Still according to the information compiled by the three student interns in community health, it is the Montreal region that would be the most affected. It is reported that 22.5% of women in a relationship had an index of domestic violence in October 2021.
The direct link drawn between domestic violence and containment measures is explained by the fact that violent behavior towards women would have peaked in February and October 2021, during intense waves of the spread of the virus where severe restrictions were imposed. .
Conversely, rates were at their lowest in June of the same year, when Quebec benefited from a summer relaxation accompanied by a deconfinement.
However, this violence did not manifest itself spontaneously with the arrival of the pandemic. However, the health crisis has exacerbated it and at the same time has reduced access to community support resources and to the social network that helps build a safety net.
Dr. Mélissa Généreux hopes that by making these new data public, the population will open their eyes more and listen a little more in search of signals that could evoke a risk of domestic violence and prevent slippages.
Prevention
The results obtained by the researchers lead to the conclusion that behind each feminicide recorded in Quebec in 2021 are hidden “nearly 3,000 women victims of abuse in a conjugal context” and “more than 16,000 women victims” of one form or another. other domestic violence including verbal or psychological abuse.
“If, for example, your spouse repeatedly yells or speaks to you with contempt, it has a name. It’s called verbal abuse or psychological abuse and it’s no more acceptable than physical abuse,” insists the professor in the department of community health sciences.
Following these findings, UdeS researchers intend to propose new solutions to continue to fight against domestic violence. A detailed report of their results containing possible solutions should be unveiled in June.
A public health issue
Moreover, Dr. Mélissa Généreux, who specializes in public health, believes that domestic violence is a serious public health problem and must be treated as such.
While carrying out her research, she came up against a void of knowledge about the extent of the phenomenon within our society. With the exception of the meager data gleaned from the GSS, a Canadian survey, there was practically nothing to measure the prevalence of conjugal violence in Quebec in a sustained manner.
“It seems to me that it sends a fairly clear message that we would benefit from better understanding how low-noise violence manifests itself in households, believes the professor from the University of Sherbrooke. We can’t just say that one in six women lives with an index of domestic violence and stop there, we have to continue.
She recalls that the Public Health Act requires that a problem identified as an issue in this area must be documented, then be the subject of a promotion, prevention and protection action plan.
“I allow myself to call it a public health issue because first of all there are risks to safety, well-being and quality of life,” she insists.
Dr. Généreux also adds that this violence leads to many collateral victims, starting with the children of a household. Then, the figures show that a woman who has an index of domestic violence is twice as likely to suffer from anxiety or depression and three times as likely to have suicidal thoughts.
And while the pandemic seems to be quietly giving way to a return to normal, the expert is worried about thousands of women trapped in a household for now economic reasons.
“We could say to ourselves “it is linked to confinement, everything will be back to normal”, but no! A relationship that has deteriorated is not going to improve all of a sudden. In addition, with the rising cost of living and the housing crisis, very many women find themselves trapped and unable to escape a violent spouse by their inability to find affordable housing,” she describes with apprehension.