Official statistics showed that there were nearly 3,300 individuals who sought assistance from the different services available to help people experiencing domestic violence in 2021.

The National Statistics Office said this week that 3,296 people required help, which was a 12.9 per cent increase over 2020, and a 28.5% increase when compared to 2019.

To put things into perspective, most of 2020 and the whole of 2021 were years in which the Covid-19 pandemic was in its peak. The onslaught of the disease meant that restrictions were in place in those two years. Mass activities were not being held, public places were closed and there were other rules which needed to be followed when in public. This resulted in people having few options other than to stay at home.

It must also be remembered that Covid-19 restrictions also meant that schools were closed and children were constrained to stay at home for longer hours as their off-school activities were also cancelled in a bid to combat the spread of the virus. The fact that, according to the statistics, more than half of the requests involved people aged between 30 and 49 – the ages of parents with young children – is another strong indication of the effects that the Covid-19 restrictions had on family life.

It is not a surprise that the number of domestic violence cases shot up in the two years when people were spending more time together at home. We write people - and not couples, as domestic violence cases also involve siblings or aged relatives who live under the same roof, as well as children who were the victims of violence in the home. Victims had no escape because they were trapped in the home with the offender and what was their home was not their place of refuge.

That these 3,300 people sought help indicates trust in the services provided. It is positive that people who do not feel safe in their own home seek help, and this help must be provided.

The question that needs to be asked, however, is how many others refrained from reaching out for assistance – for different reasons.

Some may not know about these services, and have no idea where to turn to when they fall victim to such abuse. In this case, it would do a world of good if awareness campaigns are carried out on a more regular basis.

But we believe that most of those who do not seek assistance are afraid of the repercussions they will have to face if they are caught. It is common knowledge that abusers threaten their victims with worse consequences if the latter report their predicament. This forces the victims to remain silent, believing that it is better to remain quiet rather than seek help and take the risk of making matters worse.

It is therefore important that society acts here, too, before it is too late.

Recent events have brought to light serious problems with the system, and these must be fixed to ensure that victims feel safe coming forward, and are kept safe when they do. When victims seek help and report domestic violence, they absolutely must be provided with the protection from the authorities they need in order to prevent their abuser from committing acts of retribution. The allegations must also be dealt with swiftly.

We have seen it too many times that victims believed that there would be no escalation, don’t report the domestic violence and then it happens that perpetrators move on from a simple shove, to a punch and to an outright beating and, in some circumstances, causing serious injuries and death.