Protecting women: new domestic violence countermeasures for COVID-19 in Japan.

Introduction

In Japan, domestic violence refers to “violence perpetrated by a person who is or has been in an intimate relationship, such as a spouse or lover”.[1] In the Cabinet Office survey in 2018, 31.3% of women and 19.9% of men said they had experienced intimate partner violence (IPV). Among these, 13.8% of women and 4.8% of men had experienced severe IPV on a number of occasions.[1] During COVID-19, people were required to refrain from going out, so domestic violence in the home increased, and the number of consultations seen at the Public Spousal Violence Counselling Support Center increased by 1.3 in April 2020 compared to April 2019, although there has been some stabilisation since, with no differences between July and September 2020 and the same period in 2019.[2] The Public Spousal Violence Counselling Support Center is an organisation that has 292 centres in Japan, providing spousal relationships counselling face-to-face, or by telephone.[1]

In response to the increase in domestic violence, the private organisation All Japan Women’s Shelter Network submitted a request to the Japanese government on March 31, to intensify the prevention of domestic violence and child abuse as a countermeasure during COVID-19.[3] The contents of the request were to “start a public domestic violence consultation service despite the emergency situation of COVID-19” and called for “telephone consultation, web consultation (WEB), text chats for real time communication (LINE), establishment of consultations with foreigners (for those in international marriages), survivor protection, accompanying assistance, cooperation with private shelters, and individual subsidies (of a special flat-rate support of US$935).”[4]

In response, the government issued a statement on April 17 instituting the following measures:

Domestic Violence Consultation Plus, a new helpline system for domestic violence survivors during COVID-19. This would include 24-hour telephone support (phone number: 0120-279-889), email consultations (with 24-hour correspondence), LINE consultations (with hours of operation from 12:00am to 10:00pm), WEB interviews, and LINE consultations for foreigners in international marriages (available in English, Chinese, Korean, Tagalog, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai, and Vietnamese)

subsidies for survivors in private shelters, and

expansion of various forms of assistance and protection at private shelters and hotels.[5]

To cover the cost of these measures, the government allocated US$1.4 million for the period between April 2020 and September 2020 and an additional US$2.1 million for October 2020 to March 2021.[6]

Implementation of Domestic Violence Consultation Plus

We conducted a 60-minute interview with two domestic violence counsellors in June 2020 to determine how this policy works and to clarify the current implementation of the new domestic violence measures for COVID-19 in Japan.

The interviews yielded information on some key effects of the initiative. First, the Domestic Violence Consultation Plus budget (US$3.5 million in total) is provided for the All Japan Women’s Shelter Network private shelters to undertake domestic violence consultations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Second, Domestic Violence Consultation Plus is free of charge for survivors because of this subsidy (until recently, it was not funded by the government). This service is carried out in approximately 70 private shelters across Japan. There are currently four on-demand Domestic Violence Consultation Plus phonelines in operation. Domestic Violence Consultation Plus handled 1741 cases between 20–30 April 2020, and over 4000 cases every month between May and September 2020.[2] However, demand for the service is much higher because only about 20% of callers are currently connected. The on-duty system handles calls from across the country, many from survivors in remote areas. If a caller needs protection, their call is transferred to a Domestic Violence Consultation Plus coordinator for information on private shelters in the caller’s area. This entire mechanism was created by a private national shelter network, in collaboration with other support centres. It is not sufficient for a survivor of domestic violence to simply consult and be listened to, because if there is no subsequent safety net, the survivor will not be protected. Third, support for temporary protection at private shelters and business hotels was expanded. For people who receive protection by connecting with Domestic Violence Consultation Plus, accommodation at a shelter or a business hotel is covered by the subsidy. Fourth, there is provision of human resources from private shelters, including, for example, meeting with people who had fled their homes, help in addressing procedures at government offices, accompanying the survivors to medical institutions, etc. Until recently, such inputs had been provided by volunteers who received no payment, but now these volunteers can receive money from the government subsidy.

In addition to the above effects, the interviews also revealed how private shelters were operated. Old mansion apartments and regular apartments are rented and used as single-family units. People in the facilities had to use disinfectants, wear a mask, and refrain from going out unnecessarily. The average length of stay in these private shelters is approximately 50 days. Shelter staff said they had concerns about deadlines and given the spread of the pandemic, wondered when people would have to be told they had to leave the shelter. We were told that arrangements were different in public shelters. People were not allowed to leave their rooms for a week (because of COVID-19 cases), and staff members wearing protective clothing placed food trays in front of rooms to avoid contact. Many public shelters are equipped with shared baths and toilets, and none of the rooms are private, making these facilities difficult to manage during the pandemic.

Conclusion

The success of Domestic Violence Consultation Plus during COVID-19 is related to the interconnection of the All Japan Women’s Shelter Network with numerous shelters across Japan, allowing access even to those in remote areas. This has the potential to be an excellent safety measure for domestic violence survivors especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite four telephone lines being currently in operation 24 hours a day, expansion is needed, as, for example, the current connection rate is only 20%, leaving 80% of survivors waiting to be connected. Additional government funds will be needed for the extra operating costs. Fortunately, in September 2020, the Cabinet Office agreed to allocate a further US$3.6 million for Domestic Violence Consultation Plus.[7] We appeal to the authorities to keep these new support policies for Domestic Violence Consultation Plus in place even after COVID-19 ceases to be a concern.

Ethical consideration

Approval 19-2, Rakuno Gakuen University Medical Research Ethics Review Committees for Human Subjects.