A Looming “Shadow Pandemic”: The Impact of COVID-19 on Domestic Violence in Japan

Abstract

This thesis explores the ways in which domestic violence in Japan was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, it explains the underlying factors driving the exacerbation of domestic violence after social distancing and various public health measures were introduced in the spring of 2020 in response to the spread of COVID-19 across the world – a phenomenon also known as the “shadow pandemic.” To provide a comparative tilt to the analysis, the discussion of domestic violence in Japan is supplemented by insights into how domestic violence in the United States was similarly, and differently, impacted by the pandemic. To answer these research questions, this thesis employs a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods to understand the myriad of ways the landscape of domestic violence changed in the wake of the pandemic. Specifically, the methodology consists of a two-pronged approach, with expert interviews conducted with 17 leaders in the field of domestic violence advocacy and direct service work in Japan and the U.S., followed by a full-text analysis of Japanese and U.S. media coverage to compare pre- and post-pandemic coverage of domestic violence. The results of the Japanese interview analysis reveal trends in the mechanisms that explicate the drivers of the increase in domestic violence during the pandemic – namely, the stay-at-home order, economic hardship, and post-traumatic stress from pre-pandemic experiences of domestic violence. I also discuss the pandemic’s impact, both positive and negative, on Japan’s domestic violence service systems and on government and media rhetoric surrounding domestic violence. The media coverage analysis uncovers an unexpected contrast in pre- and post-pandemic coverage in both Japan and the U.S., with Japan seeing a spike in coverage post-pandemic while the U.S. experienced the opposite effect. Finally, I present three policy implications of the results, giving way to potential avenues to both improve Japan’s support system for domestic violence survivors and to move the country toward a prevention-centered approach that ultimately aims to reduce domestic violence and violence against women.