Women suffering ‘domestic and spiritual abuse’ in lockdown, religious leaders warn

Religious leaders have warned that domestic abuse victims in their communities face the greatest obstacles to getting help, and raised fears that the coronavirus lockdown was causing such violence to soar.

Figures from Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Hindu and Sikh communities said they had heard reports of abuse in the home ranging from psychological and physical violence to spiritual abuse during the Covid-19 emergency.

Campaigners have previously warned there would be a spike in victims fleeing their abusive partners as lockdown eases, with support services, already struggling to make ends meet, being hit with an even higher demand.

A joint statement, signed by leading figures from a range of faith-based domestic abuse charities, said women in faith and black and minority ethnic (BME) communities stay with abusive partners for longer than women in the wider population and are less likely to access support.

“We cannot ignore that there are perpetrators within all our faith communities,” the statement says. “At our best, our faith communities nurture healthy relationships and strengthen society. The home exists alongside our churches, mosques, synagogues, gurdwaras and temples, to enable growth within both faith and our local communities”.

It adds: “Sadly, the ideal that our faiths provide does not always materialise. In all our communities, we hear reports not only of physical abuse but other forms of abuse which may be financial, psychological and emotional in nature. There are also instances of spiritual abuse, whereby abusers use religion to persuade people to stay with an abusive partner. Children are often the hidden victims of this kind of abuse.”

Domestic abuse has risen during the coronavirus emergency, with visits to the UK’s online national domestic abuse service surging by 700 per cent in a single day last month and a report recently released by MPs revealing domestic abuse killings doubled over 21 days.

The new campaign, which is titled #FaithsAgainstDomesticAbuse, called for the government to provide more funding for all domestic abuse services, but particularly those specialist services supporting survivors from BME, migrant and faith backgrounds, whose provision has been hardest hit by austerity as funding has moved towards generic service providers instead.

Domestic abuse services, which have been struggling to cope with increased demand during the coronavirus crisis, were already subsisting on a shoestring budget before the public health emergency due to cuts. Local authority spending on refuges was cut from £31.2m in 2010 to £23.9m in 2017.

Huda Jawad, co-founder of the Faith and Violence Against Women and Girls Coalition, said: “We call on faith leaders and representatives to continue to condemn domestic abuse and harmful practices that have no place in religion, and undertake training to spot the signs of abuse and better support survivors in their communities.”

Faith leaders noted evidence has demonstrated social distancing measures rolled out to curb the spread of coronavirus have compounded the abuse suffered by women spending lockdown with abusive partners – adding they report feeling “trapped” at home.

Nicole Jacobs, the government's domestic abuse commissioner, said: ”We know that the problem of domestic abuse is widespread, affecting victims of every faith and BAME background. The Covid crisis has brought a whole new set of series and challenges. Different faith-based charities coming together for this campaign is welcome.”

The government has announced £76m to support domestic abuse and modern slavery victims, along with vulnerable children.

It has also pledged £750m in emergency funding for charities across the UK but this falls short of the minimum £4.3bn of income sector bodies previously estimated charities would lose out on over 12 weeks of lockdown.

The statement, which was signed by Sikh Women’s Action Network, Jewish Women’s Aid, Latin American Women’s Right Service, and Women’s Interfaith Network among others, adds: “We therefore call for sustainable government funding of specialist domestic abuse services which cater for those from BAME, migrant and faith backgrounds and in addition the education of statutory agencies and the judicial system to aid them in recognising and understanding cultural barriers and honour-based abuse.”

The Home Office has been contacted for comment.

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