The fallacy of safety during quarantine: Increased domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic

INTRODUCTION: As the early peak phase of the novel coronavirus outbreak has intensified, individuals identified as nonessential were advised to remain home to prevent community transmission of the disease. The stay at home mandates further escalated isolated environments such as school closures, social distancing, travel restrictions, closure of public gathering spaces, and business closures. As citizens were forced to stay home during the pandemic, the crisis created intensifying stressors and isolation, which fostered an environment for increased domestic violence. METHOD(S): A retrospective review of all emergency department (ED) patients that presented to an American College of Surgeons (ACS) verified rural level one trauma center with associated diagnostic coding for assault was conducted during the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown, integral dates March 16, 2020, to April 30, 2020. In particular, the identification of proportional assaults presented to the ED after school closures (March 16, 2020) was compared to the previous year (March 16, 2019, to April 30, 2019). The data collected included patient characteristics, grouping by mechanism, grouping by a specific mechanism, and domestic violence perpetrators. RESULT(S): A statistically significant (p = 0.01) increase in assaults was found during the COVID-19 lockdown, particularly during school closures. CONCLUSION(S): Despite overall reductions in trauma volume during the COVID-19 stay at home mandates, a significant increase in domestic violence assaults was observed. The assaults were perpetrated mainly against white men by partners and unspecified non-family members, which were predominantly penetrating injuries.