Archives of Public Health published research by Sabine Drieskens and colleagues on the prevalence of domestic violence in Belgium during the COVID-19 crisis. Drieskens and colleagues provide an assessment of the relationship between domestic violence and five subjective indicators for social isolation. The study builds on two rounds of the COVID-19 Health Survey: the second survey in April 2020 and the sixth survey in March 2021. The study samples included 25,251 and 12,589 persons, respectively. 

The results show that the prevalence of domestic violence increased during the COVID-19 crisis. Compared to the prepandemic findings in the 2018 Health Interview Survey, domestic violence increased in frequency in Belgium since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis. There is evidence that the persistent confinement measures even worsened this situation. The study clearly shows an association between domestic violence and perceived social isolation. 

The full article is available via: https://archpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/s13690-021-00765-3.pdf