The Shadow Pandemic: Intimate terrorism in times of crises By Kathina Mehring According to UN Women, 1 out of 3 women worldwide will experience physical or sexual abuse throughout their life, most prevalently committed by an intimate partner. This constitutes a systematic human rights violation, and for decades domestic abuse has been considered a global crisis. Since the outbreak of COVID-19 however, all types of violence against women and girls have drastically intensified, leading to UN Women, among others, deeming it a `shadow pandemic´ within the pandemic. Particularly domestic abuse has been
flourishing as residents have been urged to stay home to protect themselves and others, notwithstanding that for some, home is a dangerous place. Correspondingly, this article will discuss how domestic violence was revealed to be a major topic lacking governmental action during the COVID-19 outbreak in multiple Western European countries. Domestic abuse – more precisely coined intimate terrorism – is a form of abuse of an individual perpetrated by a partner or ex-partner, commonly at a shared place of residence. According to a 1992 paper from Judith Lewis Herman, a renowned trau-
