COVID-19 induced DV in Zimbabwe’s Southlea Park residential area in Harare

Abstract

COVID-19 affected various communities across the globe in different ways. The study assessed the impacts of the COVID-19 lockdown on domestic violence in the Southlea-Park residential area in Harare. A mixed-methods research design was adopted as it allowed use of both qualitative and quantitative data collection approaches. Questionnaires, interviews, and observations were employed for data collection. The research showed that DV in the Southlea Park residential area emanated from drug abuse, juvenile delinquency, conflicts over decision-making between parents, prostitution, and food insufficiency, among others. The study indicated that most dominant forms of DV in Southlea Park during the COVID-19 lockdown period included physical, emotional, and verbal violence. The findings from this study indicated that males suffered more from verbal and psychological violence, while females suffered more from physical, economic, sexual, and emotional violence. The research concludes that COVID-19 had massive influence on domestic violence; however, the Zimbabwe Republic Police should ensure deployment of police officers in temporary camps within or close to residential areas that are far from police stations to ensure public safety during situations that trigger domestic and other forms of violence in residential areas, and the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development in Zimbabwe should ensure availability of agents responsible for ensuring against vulnerability of people to gender, domestic, and other forms of violence in all communities of the country, especially during situations that trigger violence.