item details
Overview
This card is addressed to those for whom the household bubble – a concept introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic – was not a safe place.
Research shows that family and sexual violence can escalate during large-scale emergencies, and the Covid-19 pandemic brought specific risks. Self-isolation or lockdowns had the potential to intensify pre-existing problems and create a risk of more severe violence, while victims in those situations may have felt more isolated and experienced greater challenges in accessing help.
In New Zealand, the idea of the ‘bubble’ was introduced at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. On March 24, 2020, as the country prepared to go into a lockdown of at least four weeks, the Prime Minister advised New Zealanders that the simplest thing they could do to stop the spread of Covid-19 was to stay home and self-isolate. Ardern suggested people think of themselves as being in a ‘bubble’ with a small group of individuals (for example people in one household or parents in separate households who were sharing custody of children) and stressed the importance of maintaining the bubble throughout the lockdown.
While the importance of staying home was communicated strongly in Government messages, various agencies including the New Zealand Police, NGOs, and the Human Rights Commission also emphasised the fact that people could break their bubbles to get to safety or access help, and would not be in breach of lockdown restrictions. Despite these efforts, feedback received after the level four lockdown in 2020 indicated that victims/survivors of domestic violence were hesitant to access places of safety because they feared arrest or public disapproval. Data drawn from the Family Court in Auckland, Police and Oranga Tamariki suggested that while incidences of family violence increased during the lockdown, the reporting of harm to other agencies decreased.
When New Zealand again went into level four lockdown in August 2021, agencies provided extra resources such as posters and cards to give information on emergency helplines and remind victims/survivors that they could leave their bubbles to get to safety. Staff at some supermarkets and pharmacies – essential businesses which remained open throughout the lockdown – were also trained to recognise signs of abuse. This card was produced by the Ministry of Social Development in late 2021/early 2022 and collected at a supermarket.
References:
- --- 2020. 'Coronavirus: Prime Minister implores NZers to stay home - "That's how we will save lives.”' Radio New Zealand, 24 March.
- ---. n.d. ‘Preventing and responding to family, whānau and sexual violence during COVID-19.’ New Zealand Family Violence Clearinghouse.
- Adams, Peter. 2020. 'The PM's metaphorical view of Covid-19.' University of Auckland website, 3 June.
- Franks, Josephine. ‘Covid-19: Family violence spiked after news of level 4 lockdown, new data shows.’ Stuff, 7 October.
- Human Rights Commission. 2020. 'Submission of the New Zealand Human Rights Commission for the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences.’ June 2020.
- Johnston, Kirsty. 2021. ‘"If you are unsafe, leave your bubble": Minister stresses message to violence victims.’ Stuff, 21 August.