(Montreal) 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 by the University of Sherbrooke confirms that the episodes of confinement imposed to protect the population from the virus have caused the cases of domestic violence to explode.
Posted at 1:06 p.m.
According to data compiled by the research of three medical students – Ariane Pelletier, Alycia Therrien and Marie-Aude Picard-Turcot –, under the supervision of Dr.D Mélissa Généreux, more than one in six women in a relationship (17.6%) suffered some form of domestic violence in Quebec in October 2021. In addition, 3.2% of women reported experiencing physical violence at that time.
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 either physical or sexual form” in the past 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.
At the same time, these results allow the researchers to reveal that behind each feminicide recorded in Quebec in 2021 are hidden “nearly 3,000 women victims of physical abuse in a conjugal context” and “more than 16,000 women victims” of one form or another of conjugal violence including verbal or psychological abuse.
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.