Dynamics of offenses during a pandemic COVID-19: domestic violence and cyber violence

Abstract

Problem setting. Conditions created due to quarantine restrictions have made some categories of crimes more common. Some scientists underlinethat in Ukraine and, in particular, in the world, the following types of crimes related to quarantine restrictions are identified as fraud on the Internet, sale of substandard goods, dissemination of unverified and fake information online, speculation in medical devices, cybercrime aimed at obtaining and disseminatingconfidential personal data, fraud regarding incomplete or false information about online job, including information on wages, crimes related to drug trafficking, domestic violence and exploitation, theft of food and other necessities, car and burglary.

We propose to consider this negative social dynamics onsuch offences as cyberbullying and domestic violence. Since the quarantine the number of these acts increased due to the joint long stay in one room and huge involvment in virtual activities online.

Target of research. The main purpose of this study is to generalize the theoretical and legal foundations of the phenomena of cyberbullying and domestic violence. It is also possible to identify the main features andthe forms of manifestation of these offences by cooperating and comparing data on violence; and researching waystoprevent and combat these offenses within the framework of national legislation.

Analysis of resent researches and publications. A large number of specialists and scientistsin ukrainian law have studied the concepts of cyberbullying and domestic violence. Among such scientists there are: Anosova Y., Kapur A., Vedernikova A., Golovko O., Dudorov O., Novikova M. and many others.

Article’s main body. This study emphasizes the urgency of combating violence, including in cyberspace. In our opinion, the very concept of ‘cyberbullying’ should be highlighted within this topic. The peculiarity of this type of violence is that it is a symbiosis of physical and psychological violence that threatens the physical, mental health and even the life of a dude and manifests itself in cyberspace. It is important to note that only one of the manifestations of cyberbullying has been reflected in public policy in the field of preventing and combating bullying in the field of education. Another category of offenses exacerbated during the pandemic is domestic violence. The vast majority of victims from thisviolence did not report their incidents of physical and / or sexual violence to law enforcement, thus being a major problem with impunity for domestic violence in ukrainiansociety. In our opinion, it is also appropriate to analyze the concepts of ‘cyberbullying’ and ‘domestic violence’ by comparing the common and distinctive features of these concepts, as the trend of increasing the level of these offenses suggests the similarity of the preconditions for their occurrence. According to the scientific results we can conclude that these offenceshave many common features. It’s possible to realize the common features and preconditions of spreading these types of offences.

Conclusions and prospects for the development. The COVID-19 pandemic will really leave a noticeable mark in the life of each of us, because it has already affected our traditional areas of activity, including education, economics, medicine, etc. Unfortunately, the level of certain types of offenses increased significantlyduring quarantine.They include cybercrimes and domestic violence. The researchconsidered the main forms of these types of violence, as well as waysto prevent and combat these offenses by issuing certain norms innational legislation.