On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) formally declared the coronavirus (COVID-19) a global health pandemic (WHO, 2020) and called on states to take urgent measures to tackle it. In light of the call by the WHO (2020) and subsequent governmental action (stay-at-home orders, lockdowns, and restrictions of movement) many aspects of pre-Covid-19 life were upended and this included family life. As a result of the outbreak of Covid-19 disease and the subsequent confinement measures aimed at its containment, specialists and advocates worldwide raised concerns regarding increases in DV perpetration and victimization (Kourti et al., 2021; United Nations, 2020). For example, Boserup, McKenney, and Elkbuli (2020) and Evans, Lindauer, and Farrell (2020) submitted that life during the Covid-19 pandemic has the potential to exacerbate the environmental milieus of victims of DV, while Dlamini (2020) argued that the challenges brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing toxic social norms which underpin DV.

The views espoused above on DV are premised on the notion that the Covid-19 pandemic has the potential to mimic patterns of past pandemics, where social isolation, associated stress and family conflicts were strongly connected to increases in DV (Piquero et al., 2020) as well as increased risk of familial violence (Gama et al., 2021). The possibility of exacerbated familial and intimate violence are also premised on the notion that victims of DV would not be able to safely contact the police for assistance or receive support from family and friends as stay-at-home orders meant that many victims of DV were now required to stay at home with their abusers and could not distance themselves from their abusers as was possible in the pre-Covid-19 era (Bradbury-Jones & Isham, 2020; Buttell & Ferreira, 2020; Evans, Lindauer, & Farrell, 2020; Kofman & Garfin, 2020; Plasilova et al., 2021). Some scholars view Covid-19 as a shadow pandemic (Davies, Guenfoud, & Jovanovic, 2021; UN Women, 2020), a parallel pandemic of DV (Gama et al., 2021), a pandemic within a pandemic (Evans, Lindauer, & Farrell, 2020) as well as the implacable enemy of DV (Wallace, 2021), hence its omnipresence in the Covid-19 environment.

While extensive research on DV during the present pandemic is scarce (Sharma & Borah, 2020), there is an emerging body of scholarship on the phenomenon. Not surprisingly, the majority of scholarship emanates from the Global North (Bradbury-Jones & Isham 2020; Davies, Guenfoud, & Jovanovic, 2021; Dlamini, 2020; Gama et al., 2021; Kourti et al., 2021; Leslie & Wilson, 2020; Pina, 2021; Sharma & Borah, 2020; van Gelder et al., 2020) to the exclusion of traditionally un- and under-researched jurisdictions, for example, the Caribbean. While this is no fault of researchers in the Global North, the exclusion of, and lack of scholarship on DV perpetration and victimization in the Caribbean during the Covid-19 pandemic inevitably leads to ‘universalizing’ the issue or speciously thinking that problems manifest themselves in the same manner everywhere, while disregarding local features [and cultures] of other approaches (Milan & Treré, 2019).

By mid-March 2020, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago had implemented the Public Health Regulations (2020) to enforce stay at home orders, closure of non-essential businesses, restrict the movement of non-essential personnel, reduced capacity of public transportation vehicles and public gatherings. Added to this, the Public Health Regulations 2020 oversaw the closure of Trinidad and Tobago’s borders and made the wearing of face masks mandatory. A State of Emergency with a stipulated curfew was also declared on May 15th 2021 and this lasted until November 17th 2021. In Trinidad and Tobago, a major facet of pre-Covid-19 life that was altered post Covid-19, was that family members were coerced into spending time together in environments that were often volatile. While this situation is not unique to Trinidad and Tobago, the extremely outgoing culture associated with life on the island (beach-going, carnival, hiking, nature adventures and a host of outdoor activities surrounding religious festivals) was impacted. In the pre-Covid-19 era, such volatile environments could have been avoided, for example, by participating in a plethora of outdoor activities mentioned above or by attending work at the office. However, during the Covid-19 pandemic, outdoor activities were restricted, the office was located at home and this meant little to no escape.

Despite the possibility of increased DV victimization and perpetration as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, there is little research on the phenomenon in Trinidad and Tobago’s context on the issue under inquiry. In order to negate the universalizing of increased DV during the Covid-19 pandemic, this research focuses on DV in Trinidad and Tobago during the Covid-19 pandemic. Further, there is no doubt that DV is a global Public Health concern that affects millions of individuals regardless of age, race, religion, ethnicity, economic status, sexual orientation, or educational background (ACOG, 2012; Bair-Merritt, 2010). Additionally, DV is not the sole domain of any single jurisdiction and Trinidad and Tobago is not exempted from its clutches. Therefore, this adds to the need for DV to be examined in Trinidad and Tobago’s context.

In Trinidad and Tobago, DV refers to, physical, sexual, emotional or psychological or financial abuse committed by a person against a spouse, child, any other person who is a member of the household or dependant (Domestic Violence Act, 2020) and it is in this context that DV is used in this article. The current study was guided by four research questions (RQ), namely:

RQ1: Did individuals engage in increased domestic violence perpetration in Trinidad and Tobago during the Covid-19 pandemic?

RQ2: Did individuals become victims of increased domestic violence in Trinidad and Tobago during the Covid-19 pandemic?

RQ3: Did fear of violence in intimate relationships increase in Trinidad and Tobago during the Covid-19 pandemic?

RQ4: Were increases in domestic violence perpetration/victimization/fear of victimization a result of family isolation due to the Covid-19 pandemic in Trinidad and Tobago?

Covid-19 and Domestic Violence

Acts of violence in domestic settings are most common, most difficult to monitor and manage, are of great concern and have received considerable amounts of attention in academia, policymaking and legislative agendas globally (Plasilova et al., 2021; Stoianova, Ostrovska, & Tripulskyir, 2020) and the Covid-19 pandemic and attendant lockdown reminded the world of this. For instance, Sharma & Borah (2020), point out that the United States has enacted lockdowns regionally to contain the spread of the virus, while in Italy, citizens were required to stay indoors under stay-at-home orders indefinitely and that lockdowns are a global phenomenon. While social distancing and self-quarantining are viewed as the best ways to protect the general population from the Covid-19 disease, it is argued that this new normal has led to alarming increases in DV (Ali & Khalid, 2021; Hansen & Lory, 2020).

There is both existing and emergent data alluding to increases in DV whenever families are confined or are required to spend more time together, for example, holidays or when children are not attending school (Joshi & Sorenson, 2010; Vazquez, Stohr, & Purkiss, 2005) in similar conditions to existing pandemic conditions. Other research suggest that lockdown measures are increasing the incidence of DV and not only in number, but also in severity (Sharma & Borah, 2020). In a similar vein, van Gelder et al., (2020) posit that cases of DV have increased significantly during the Covid-19 pandemic as physical isolation is now a government-sanctioned approach. It should be noted that physical isolation is a long existing and prominent tool utilized by abusers to distance victims from their support networks (Coohey, 2007; Menjívar & Salcido, 2002) and the Covid-19 pandemic appears to be working in their favor due to stay-at-home orders and restrictions on movement.

Preliminary data emanating from other parts of the world paint a picture of increased DV during the Covid-19 pandemic, for example, Italy (Bellizzi et al., 2020), Mexico, Brazil (Bettinger-Lopez & Bro, 2020), the United Kingdom (UK) (Davidge, 2020), and Victoria, Australian (Pfitzner et al., 2020), with rates of DV recorded in China increasing by 50%, Colombia, by 79%, and Tunisia by 400% (Mlambo-Ngcuka, 2020). Davies et al. (2021) point out that in the U.S., the National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice reported an 8.1% increase in DV incidents after lockdown orders, while in an editorial, the New York Times (2020) cogitates that domestic abuse is flourishing in the conditions created by the pandemic and acting like an opportunistic infection. Similarly, Thomas (2020) points out that in the United States, the National Domestic Violence Hotline reported a significant surge in calls from DV victims. In a similar vein, McCrary & Sanga (2020) reported that DV increased by 12% on average in their study conducted 14 large U.S. cities. Quite interestingly, using data from Dallas, Texas to examine the extent the lockdown on increases in DV, Piquero et al. (2020) found evidence for a short-term spike in the two weeks immediately after the lockdown was instituted.

In another study conducted by Leslie and Wilson (2020) in 14 large US cities before and after social distancing began, the researchers compared DV calls for service before and after social distancing began. The results of Leslie and Wilson’s (2020) study indicated that the pandemic led to a 7.5% increase in calls for service during March, April, and May of 2020 and that the biggest increase came during the first five weeks after widespread social distancing began, when DV calls increased by 9.7%. Similarly, Campbell (2020) reports that in China, DV is reported to have tripled during their shelter in-place mandate, France witnessed a 30% increase in DV reports, Brazil estimates that DV reports have increased by 40–50%, and Italy has indicated that reports of DV are on the rise as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. In other parts of the world, the prevalence of DV appears to have increased as DV calls in Argentina have increased 25% since their March 20, 2020 lockdown, while there is a 30% increase in calls to DV helplines in Cyprus and a 33% increase in Singapore (UN Women, 2020).

Scholars have also indicated increased DV victimization and perpetration as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. For example, in the US, DV victimization increased from 20 to 30% soon after the lockdowns (Kofman & Garfin 2020; Piquero et al., 2020), while domestic and sexual abuse in Spain increased by 20%, DV increased by 30% in Cyprus and by 25% in the United Kingdom (Bradbury & Isham, 2020). According to the World Health Organization (WHO) (2020), global reports from China, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and other countries suggest a significant increase in DV cases related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instructively, the literature and data presented above on DV are snapshots of the Western world, are not representative of occurrences in the Caribbean and cannot be ‘universalized’ to the region.

At this juncture, it should be noted that developed countries such as the UK, US, China, France, Cyprus, and Spain have well-established systems for monitoring and reporting DV. However, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) (2020) points out in developing countries such systems are nonexistent or inefficient. It is against this background that Ali and Khalid (2021) cogitate that the increase in DV cases during the COVID-19 pandemic has not been adequately addressed in developing countries. The position alluded to by Ali and Khalid (2021) is applicable to Trinidad and Tobago ‘as empirical research on pandemic related DV is lacking’ (Gama et al., 2021).

The Trinidad and Tobago COVID-19 Domestic Violence Victimization and Perpetration (C-19 DVAP) study is undergirded by the opportunity theory as it aids our understanding of increases in the commission of crimes (including DV) during a pandemic. The opportunity theory suggest that pandemic lockdown measures can activate causal mechanisms for an increase in crimes, with some types being more likely to increase and others being more likely to decrease (Eisner & Nivette, 2020), due to the restrictions being imposed on personal mobility and social interactions. The opportunity theory also argues that there is a tendency for property crimes to be reduced when opportunities for the commission of those acts are reduced, however, interpersonal crimes, for example DV, tend to increase.

Methods and Materials

A self-administered questionnaire was utilized to collect data for this study. This approach was utilized as questionnaires are a dependable and rapid technique for gathering information from a large number of participants in an effective and timely manner. Further, questionnaires serve to reduce the ‘social desirability bias’ or the tendency for survey participants to respond favorably whenever researchers are facing them (Tourangeau & Yan, 2007). The use of questionnaires is also critical in large projects such as this study with several complicated objectives and when time is a key constraint (Bell, 2005; Greenfield, 2002; Silverman, 2004). The current research utilized an online questionnaire to garner the public’s views of DV perpetration, victimization and fear of victimization in Trinidad and Tobago during the Covid-19 pandemic. This approach was used as the Covid-19 pandemic is characterized by many mutually reinforcing obstacles that render populations increasingly vulnerable as personal health, wellbeing, and the physical environment are affected (Lupton, 2021).

As the researchers were conducting research under pandemic conditions (Lupton, 2021), they opted to use a non-contact online questionnaire in order to protect the research participants and the researchers. Questions asked to the participants included, but were not limited to: (1) Were you a victim of domestic violence during the Covid-19 pandemic? (2) Did you commit any acts of domestic violence during the Covid-19 pandemic? (3) Did your fear of being a victim of increased domestic violence during the Covid-19 pandemic? (4) What do you think led to your increased domestic violence perpetration/victimization/fear of victimization? and (5) Were the changes in your domestic violence perpetration/victimization/fear of victimization due to family isolation? The study’s methods was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of the Association of Caribbean Criminal Justice Practitioners (ACCJP) as the study was conceptualized and facilitated by that organization.

Instrumentation

The questionnaire used in this study is an adapted variant of a previously validated instrument used by Mumford & Rothman (2020) in their research project ‘Cyber-Abuse Research Initiative’ (CARI). The instrument was modified to reflect the realities of demographic characteristics of Trinidad and Tobago’s population as demographic questions related to ethnicity were removed from Mumford and Rothman’s (2020) questionnaire and replaced with ethnicities related to Trinidad and Tobago’s population. Further, two closed ended questions and one open-ended question were added to Mumford and Rothman’s (2020) questionnaire in an attempt to garner context-based information (for example, area of residence). Despite the modified nature of the instrument, validity and reliability were not affected as the changes were minor. The questionnaire consisted of four sections and nineteen questions. The questionnaire gathered data on participants’ demographics, DV victimization and perpetration during Covid-19, fear of domestic violence victimization during Covid-19 and rationale for victimization, perpetration and fear. An open-ended question was enmeshed in the questionnaire to gather data on factors that contributed to DV during the pandemic. Questions in sections two and three were anchored on a five-point Likert scale.

In seeking to determine whether there were increases in DV perpetration/victimization/fear of victimization during the Covid-19 pandemic in Trinidad and Tobago, baselines of no prior DV victimization/perpetration were established for the participants as they were asked to indicate that they had no previous victimization and/or perpetration experiences. Importantly, the participants were under no obligation to answer the question on their previous victimization experiences. Further, the self-administered nature of the instrument served to diminish the potential for ‘social desirability bias’ or the inclination by survey participants to falsely report a favourable state of affairs when in the presence of a researcher who is collecting data in person or by telephone (Tourangeau & Yan, 2007).

Data Collection

The inclusion criteria for this study were: (1) participants must be eighteen years and older, (2) be citizens of Trinidad and Tobago, (3) be involved in an intimate relationship for any period during the Covid-19 pandemic, and (4) no prior DV perpetration/victimization. Participants were invited to complete the anonymous online survey on their own time based solely on their willingness to participate. Advertisements promoting the study were placed on university and college websites, Facebook, Government websites, and personal websites (LinkedIn). The survey was hosted on Google Forms and invitations to participants were circulated using the Meta Platforms, Incoroprarion, and WhatsApp platforms utilizing a clickable link.

Issues of anonymity, consent, confidentiality, and participant safety were addressed in the questionnaire’s introduction. Participants were asked to complete the instrument at a time and location that is devoid of their spouse’s presence and to not complete the instrument if they felt threatened in any way. Confidentially was guaranteed to the participants as their real names and/or identifying features are not included in the article. A unique Internet Protocol (IP) address was utilized to indicate each submission and avoid multiple individual responses. The questionnaire was available for completion over a fourteen-day period (November 26, 2021 to December 10, 2021) at the back end of the pandemic when the government of Trinidad and Tobago were considering lifting existing pandemic restrictions. With this in mind, the researchers thought it best to conduct the research in a short period when pandemic conditions were prevailing, rather than run the risk of conducting the research under pandemic and non-pandemic conditions.

Data Analysis

The data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 28). Descriptive data are used to present the results by way of frequencies and cross-tabulations. Frequency distribution is used to analyze the demographic data in Section one of the questionnaire to produce frequency counts, percentages, and cumulative percentages for those values in that section (Norušis, 1993). Cross-tabulations are used to examine the relationship between variables in sections two and three of the instrument and this assisted the researchers to make informed research decisions by recognizing relationships between the study’s parameters (Garson, 2013).

To complement the quantitative analyses, the researchers utilized thematic analysis as espoused by Braun and Clarke (2006) to analyze the narratives of the participants in Sect. 4 of the instrument. This approach sought to understand the phenomenon and identify which events led to specific consequences, and this helped to enhance the quantitative data (Tracy, 2019) as well as to evaluate patterns (themes) within the data. Of the 602 participants, 33 persons completed the qualitative component of the instrument. The general terms that emanated from the narratives of the participants were coded into themes (Liamputtong, 2020), their frequency counted and themes organized according to patterns developed from an inductive analysis of the data (Punch, 2014).

The Participants

A total of six hundred and two (n = 602) participants completed the survey instrument. The participants included 408 females (68%) and 185 males (31%). Non-binary and individuals who preferred not to disclose their gender accounted for 1% of the study’s population (n = 9). In terms of age distribution, 43 participants (7%) were aged 18–25, 139 (23%) participants were aged 26–34, 179 participants (30%) were aged 35–44, 163 participants (27%) were aged 45–54, and 77 participants (13%) were above the age of 55. When distilled by location, the greatest number of participants resided in East Trinidad (35%), while the least number of participants were resident in West Trinidad (9%) and Tobago (9%). Persons residing in South Trinidad accounted for 20%, North Trinidad 14%, Central Trinidad 13%, and Tobago 9% of the sample. A great majority of the participants identified their socio-economic status as middle class (430 participants or 71%), 17% (n = 101) identified themselves as belonging to the upper class, and 12% (n = 75) indicated that they belonged to the lower socio-economic class.

Table 1 Participants’ demographics
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Results

The quantitative component of the instrument was utilized to answer the four research questions, while the qualitative component elicited themes from the participant’s narratives on DV perpetration and victimization during the Covid-19 pandemic in Trinidad and Tobago.

Answering the Research Questions

In answering the first research question (Did individuals engage in increased domestic violence perpetration in Trinidad and Tobago during the Covid-19 pandemic?), the data indicated that 13% of the total number of participants reported an increase in their perpetration of DV during the pandemic. When disaggregated by gender, 17% of the male participants reported that they engaged in acts of DV towards their intimate partners during the pandemic, while 13% of the female participants indicated that they engaged in acts of DV towards their intimate partners during the pandemic.

As it relates to the second research question (Did individuals become victims of increased domestic violence in Trinidad and Tobago during the Covid-19 pandemic?), 16% of the participants indicated that they experienced an increase in DV victimization during the Covid-19 pandemic. When distilled by gender, the data revealed that 25% of the males were victims of increased DV victimization, while 12% of the females in the sample suffered increased DV victimization. Answers to RQ3 (Did fear of violence in intimate relationships increase in Trinidad and Tobago during the Covid-19 pandemic?) revealed that ten per cent of the participants (5% male and 5% female) indicated that they became increasingly fearful of the occurrence of DV within their intimate relationships during the Covid-19 pandemic in Trinidad and Tobago.

Research question number four sought to determine whether increases in DV perpetration/victimization/fear of victimization during the Covid-19 pandemic in Trinidad and Tobago was as a result of family isolation? Thirteen per cent of the male participants indicated that the increase in their perpetration of DV was the result of family isolation during the pandemic, while 16% of the female participants indicated that their increase in DV victimization was as a result of family isolation during the Covid-19 facilitated pandemic. On the other hand, 10% of the participants (5% male and 5% female) indicated that they became increasingly fearful of the occurrence of violence within their intimate relationships during the Covid-19 pandemic in Trinidad and Tobago. While stress, fear of engaging in erratic behaviors, job loss, and fear of the unknown were put forward as reasons for the heightened fear of DV victimization during the Covid-19 pandemic in Trinidad and Tobago, being isolated with a spouse and family was proffered as the main reason for fear of increased DV victimization among the surveyed population.

Themes

This section presents the qualitative results that emanated from the data collection instrument as thirty-three participants completed this section. Of the thirty-three individuals who completed the qualitative component of the instrument, twelve were perpetrators (solely), fifteen were victims (solely), four were perpetrators/victims, and two were neither perpetrators nor victims. Six themes emanated from the narratives of the participants who completed this component of the instrument. In descending order of prevalence, the themes are: (1) isolation/Covid-19 restrictions, (2) lack of assistance for victims, (3) male fear of reporting DV, (4) work as a safe space, (5) mental health effects, and (6) job loss. The themes are discussed in the following paragraphs, however, due to constraints of space, applicable participant quotes are used to illuminate the voice of the study’s participants (Wallace et al., 2021).

Theme 1 – Isolation/Covid-19 Restrictions

Thirteen individuals indicated that for them, isolation and Covid-19 restrictions impacted DV perpetration and victimization during the pandemic. For as a male victim, aged 35–44 years, residing in North Trinidad explained:

During the pandemic there was a rise in domestic violence, as partners were not able to either get away from the abuse or the abuse was made easier as the restrictions on movement did not allow them to escape. This was my experience as a victim.

In a similar vein, a female victim aged 34–44, from Central Trinidad submitted:

Whenever persons are isolated together for long periods without an outlet for personal space or time alone there will be a tendency for levels of frustration and irritability to become unbearable. I have had two childhood male friends express to me how heavy the weight of their families seems to them. One expressed frustration of their constant presence and thoughts of starting over with someone new; while another expressed it ‘like chains dragging me down’.

Theme 2 - Lack of Assistance for Victims

Eight of the study’s participants opined that lack of assistance for victims of DV was prevalent during the pandemic and this impacted DV perpetration and victimization. According to a female victim, aged 45–54 years, residing in East Trinidad:

Domestic violence is real, and not much was done during the pandemic to provide housing support to victims and children as well as perpetrators in Trinidad and Tobago which is heartrending.

On the other hand, a female, aged 35–44 years, residing in North Trinidad stated:

I work[ed] during the COVID assisting domestic violence victims and referring them to shelters and different agencies and there are so many times this couldn’t be done because of the lack of safe homes for victims of domestic violence.

Theme 3 - Male Fear of Reporting DV

The theme male fear of reporting emanated from the narratives of four participants. A male participant (perpetrator/victim), aged 45–54, residing in Tobago submitted the following:

The time at home with my partner grew frustrating over time and things got a bit heated. At times, we both got physical towards each other, but I reminded myself that no one would believe me if I reported that she victimized me, especially if I reported it to the police.

Similarly, a female victim, aged 18–25, residing in South Trinidad stated:

Domestic violence against men has not been given the attention it deserves as this is important. Toxic masculinity has caused men to shy away from taking further action, especially during the pandemic. This is also an issue that should be address through the DV support programmes.

A male, 35–44 (perpetrator/victim), residing in Tobago submitted the following:

My female partner became increasingly physically and emotionally aggressive. But you know what, I didn’t report [anything] because society will laugh at me, both the police, my friends and women. Plus, when I look at academia for help, as they should be a bit more understanding, and I see Dr. XFootnote 1 talking that is only women victims of domestic violence in the homes in TT [Trinidad and Tobago], I shake my head in disgust. Nobody sees the male side of the coin. It’s as though we cannot be victims of domestic violence. That’s why we do not report it [DV], pandemic or not.

Theme 4 - Work as a Safe Space

Three of the study’s participants used the term work as a safe space as they sought to explain DV perpetration and victimization during the Covid-19 enforced pandemic in Trinidad and Tobago. The following view was submitted by one participant (non-victim/non-perpetrator):

Because of being a health centre worker, due to long hours and being short staffed which meant I had to do extras, I was not home to experience sexual abuse. What I experienced was emotional and physical abuse when I got home. Work was my safe place. We ended the relationship within two weeks of the pandemic. We were engaged to be married. (female, aged 35–44, residing in West Trinidad).

According to a female, aged 35–44, residing in South Trinidad:

Covid-19 forced many couples to remain together for period longer than usual. Resultant from this was the unfortunate release of aggression on partners. The time that they would normally be apart was now spent together. Many women who because of their domestic situations relished the time apart for their safety, had to now live in fear of what could happen next.

One participant submitted the following:

The Covid-19 pandemic increased my stress and negative feelings (in some instances) towards my partner. Being at work was a solace to me in the pre-Covid-19 era as I was very occupied with work, late meetings and other physical engagements, but the pandemic forced me to be at home with my partner and not having space to blow off steam increased my stress level and some domestic violence tendencies. (male, perpetrator/victim) aged 45–54, residing in East Trinidad).

Theme 5 - Mental Health Effects

Mental health effects emerged as another theme from the narratives of three participants, with the most succinct being proffered by a female participant who submitted:

Just being at home all the time, I can’t exercise, I can’t go to the gym, I can’t be outside at certain hours just going for a drive, plus I had the children home, like forever with online school, and then constant talk from my husband, who we were already not seeing eye to eye. It was mentally taxing. I felt like I was going mad. (female, aged 35–44, South Trinidad, non-perpetrator/non-victim).

Theme 6 – Job Loss

Two of the study’s participants indicated that loss of jobs impacted DV perpetration and victimization during the pandemic and that this was their lived experience. This participant stated:

I lost my job transporting children to school. Mentally, this was really tough on me to sit and look at my wife go to work and become the sole breadwinner. It drove me up a wall, negatively impacted my mental health and at times, I became very hostile and verbally abusive to my wife. (Male participant, perpetrator, aged 45–54 from East Trinidad).

Fig. 1
figure 1

Schematic Representation of Themes by Prevalence.

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Discussion

The finding of a 13% increase in DV perpetration among those who responded to the survey was understandable, yet surprising to the research team. While the researchers expected an increase in DV perpetration as persons were ‘locked away’ together during the pandemic, the surprise was premised on the notion espoused in the literature of massive increases in DV, for example, by 50%, Colombia, by 79%, and Tunisia by 400% (Mlambo-Ngcuka, 2020). Further, while the literature as well as the opportunity theory which undergirds this study spoke to potential increases, the majority of research on increases in DV perpetration spoke to ‘drastic’, ‘massive’ and ‘alarming’ increases (Ali & Khalid, 2021; Hansen & Lory, 2020; Mlambo-Ngcuka, 2020), however, this was not the case with Trinidad and Tobago as the increase among the individuals who completed the instrument was 13%. Though the increased in DV perpetration was not as striking as those in similar studies, such as, Ali and Khalid (2021), Hansen & Lory (2020) and Mlambo-Ngcuka (2020), the increase is aligned with the narrative of the opportunity theory which submit that pandemics creates the opportunity for interpersonal violence between intimate partners to increase.

The data also indicated that 17% of the male participants who responded to the survey conducted increased acts of DV towards their intimate partner or spouse during the pandemic. This increased DV perpetration by males is consistent with previous research which pointed out males are generally viewed as perpetrators of DV and females as victims (Dutton & White, 2013; Verma & Raina, 2014). On the other hand, 13% of the female participants who completed the instrument indicated that they conducted acts of DV towards their intimate partners. This result is consistent with research indicating that women are increasingly becoming perpetrators of DV and that female perpetrators and male victims are not unusual (See Nesset et al., 2021 for support).

Overall, 16% of the sample in this study indicated that they experienced an increase in DV victimization within their intimate relationships during the Covid-19 facilitated pandemic in Trinidad and Tobago. In a similar vein to the increase in perpetration, this finding of increased DV victimization is slightly similar, yet a bit dissimilar from global research. The similarity is based on increased DV victimization being a commonality in the majority of studies conducted on DV during the pandemic (Ali & Khalid, 2021; Hansen & Lory, 2020; van Gelder et al., 2020). Concomitantly, the dissimilarity is premised on the notion that the increased DV victimization in the C-19 DVAP study was not as drastic or alarming as reported in other studies (Ali & Khalid, 2021; Bellizzi et al., 2020; Pfitzner et al., 2020).

When disaggregated by gender, the data revealed that 25% of the males in this study were victims of increased DV victimization during the pandemic, while 12% of the females in the sample suffered from increased DV victimization. This finding is both interesting and surprising given that the academic literature indicate that women are generally victims of DV (See for example, European Institute for Gender Equality 2012). As it relates to the current study, this finding can be explained from the perspective of male fear of reporting their DV victimization to state agencies in Trinidad and Tobago (Wallace et al., 2019). The fact that the data collection was conducted online might have accounted for this unexpected high rate of males reporting DV victimization as the males might have felt comfortable in sharing their experiences of DV victimization in an anonymous forum with little possibility of being judged by the person receiving the data.

The finding of increased male victimization within the sample is inconsistent with previous research on DV which reported males as predominantly perpetrators of DV, IPV, and abuse in intimate and familial settings and females as victims (Dutton & White, 2013; Verma & Raina, 2014). The finding of this study indicating more male than female victims of increased DV victimization during the pandemic is supported by the work of Nesset et al. (2021) who found that while there was an increase in intimate partner violence (IPV) in Norway during the Covid-19 lockdown, there were significantly more male victims. Notably, the finding of increased interpersonal violence suffered by male participants in this study is aligned to the opportunity theory.

10% of the study’s participants (5% male and 5% female) indicated that they became increasingly fearful that violence would occur within their intimate relationships during the Covid-19 pandemic. While fear of victimization has been studied widely, research and scholarship on the association between fear of victimization in the context of DV is a neglected one. However, it is argued that there is an association between the fear of DV victimization and intimate relationships especially in times of social inequality (Iglesias, Cardoso, & Sousa, 2019), such as pandemics. With the pronouncement of Iglesias, Cardoso, and Sousa (2019) in mind, it is hardly surprising that some male and female participants in this study indicated that they became fearful of violent victimization (DV) occurring in their relationships during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The survey findings showed minor increases in DV victimization and this may suggest something about DV and perpetration and victimization in Trinidad and Tobago overall. However, the survey findings elicited from adults who responded to the survey in Trinidad and Tobago is incongruent with other research findings measuring the same phenomenon (increases in DV perpetration and victimization) (Bettinger-Lopez & Bro, 2020; Davidge, 2020; Hansen & Lory, 2020; Mlambo-Ngcuka, 2020; Pfitzner et al., 2020). Though surprising, the results of this study lend support to the notion that researchers must avoid ‘universalizing’ problems, despite this being a tempting phenomenon in the era of global uncertainty. The increase in DV perpetration and victimization found in the sample of persons who completed the survey in Trinidad and Tobago may be the result of differences in culture whereby in different cultures, people react differently and develop different coping strategies and resilience during times of crises. Instructively, the results of the study in Trinidad and Tobago is largely inconsistent with other research which spoke to massive increases in DV and is consistent with the pronouncement of Amahazion (2021, p. 1) who points out that “While disasters can harm all, they do not impact or affect all people equally or in the same ways.”

The findings of this study which reported minor increases in DV victimization, perpetration and fear of victimization among the sampled population of individuals in intimate relationships in Trinidad and Tobago is also not singular. For example, some researchers have reported small increases in DV perpetration (Leslie & Wilson, 2020), conflicting effects (Miller et al., 2020) and even reductions in DV generally (Bettinger-Lopez & Bro, 2020; Mlambo-Ngcuka, 2020; Øverlien 2020; Silverio-Murillo, Balmori de la Miyar, & Hoehn-Velasco, 2020). This reduction was also reported by some UK-based services (Davidge, 2020; SafeLives, 2020). However, the results of the current research effort should be interpreted with caution, as without a population-based survey, it is impossible to determine a country’s incidence of DV overall and this has been a key global challenge for most countries during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The findings of the qualitative component of the study indicated that there was no equal spread of contributory factors for increased DV perpetration and victimization for individuals in intimate relationships in Trinidad and Tobago. For example, the majority of the participants in the qualitative component of the study indicated that for them, isolation/Covid-19 restriction was the major contributing factor for increased DV victimization and perpetration. This position is hardly surprising as the literature espouse similar sentiments (See Bilyeau, 2020; Dekel & Abrahams, 2021 for support).

In the context of contributory factors for enhanced DV victimization and perpetration during the pandemic, isolation/Covid-19 restrictions were major contributing factors. Male fear of reporting DV, work as a safe space, mental health effects and job loss all emanated from the participant’s narratives as contributory factors to increased DV victimization and perpetration. The aforementioned contributory factors mirror the work of Capaldi et al. (2012) who found that financial stress has been linked to perpetration of partner abuse and Sharma & Borah (2020) who pointed out that layoffs and loss of income are driving up the incidence of DV during the Covid-19 pandemic. Similarly, there is support for the aforementioned findings from Wallace et al. (2019) on male fear of reporting DV victimization, Campbell (2020) on work as a safe space, and Dekel and Abrahams (2021) on mental health and DV as factors that contribute to elevated levels of DV victimization.

Study’s Limitations

This study is subject to a number of limitations, including the short time frame that the researchers allocated for data collection (two weeks) and the method of collecting the data. The data collection component of the study focused on gathering data within a 14-day period and this posed a challenge as several individuals contacted the researchers indicating an interest in participating in the study after the data collection phase was ended. Another limitation of this study was that the data were collected online and it is important to note that victims and potential victims of DV are often technologically-isolated. Further, the online data collection approach might pose a threat to the external validity of this study as the sample for this study was limited to individuals with computers and mobile phones as well as an understanding of the online survey environment (See Khubchandani et al., 2021 for support). Importantly, the researchers sought to offset the technologically-isolated nature of DV victims as participants were instructed to select a safe period when their spouse was absent to complete the instrument. The non-random dissemination of the instrument and the challenges inherent to self-reporting of DV are other limitations of this study.

The limitations mentioned above may preclude generalization of the study’s findings to the larger population in Trinidad and Tobago. However, despite the limitations, this study appears to be the first in the Caribbean to conduct an evaluation of DV perpetration, victimization and fear of victimization during the Covid-19 lockdown and the study is therefore of much utility to policy makers in the Caribbean as it can be used as a starting point for further research as well as to implement policies to deal with similar occurrences in the future.

Conclusion

The attention to potential increases in DV perpetration and victimization is quite natural given the significant economic and social costs associated with the phenomenon (Fearon & Hoeffler, 2014). This attention is also as a result of the potential for increased DV as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic as espoused by the opportunity theory. This article focused on factors associated with increases in DV perpetration and victimization among persons in intimate relationships in Trinidad and Tobago. The authors of this paper presents and contextualizes findings from the first nationwide survey that measured DV perpetration and victimization in Trinidad and Tobago during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Though hampered by limitations, the study’s findings indicated an overall increase of 13% in DV perpetration and a 16% increase in victimization, with a slightly higher percentage of male perpetrators (17%) when compared to female perpetrators (13%) among persons who completed the instrument. The data also revealed that during the Covid-19 pandemic, males were almost 50% more likely to become victims of DV than females. Quite notably, 5% of both males and females reported increased fear of violence in their relationships during the pandemic. Six contributory factors for increased DV perpetration and victimization were elicited from the narratives of the participants (isolation/Covid-19 restrictions, lack of assistance for victims, job loss, male fear of reporting DV, work as a safe space, and mental health effects).

To conclude, while comprehensive Caribbean data are not yet available on increases in DV perpetration and victimization in intimate settings during the Covid-19 pandemic, this paper contributes to the emerging body of global and regional scholarship on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on DV by reporting specifically on the DV perpetration and victimization experiences in Trinidad and Tobago. Importantly, the authors view this article as a call to action for Caribbean policymakers to broaden their knowledge base as understandings of DV perpetration and victimization during the Covid-19 pandemic will be useful in managing similar events in the future as the qualitative data indicated a lack of shelters for victims of DV.