Threatened by COVID-19, the world has been on lockdown. Danger and death lay without; safety is to be found alone in the isolation of the home. The UK government's message was 'Stay at home … Do not meet others, even friends and family.' But within the walls of their own homes many women face an enemy more terrifying than COVID-19.The domestic abuse charity Refuge reported a 700% increase in calls in a single day. 1 The most recent findings are that '... demand has spiked again significantly -calls and contacts to the Helpline have risen to a weekly average increase of 66% and visits to our website ... have seen a phenomenal 950% rise compared to pre Covid-19.' 2 In response to this surge in domestic abuse, the Home Office announced an additional 2 million pounds of funding to support helplines and online support. But this is insufficient to mitigate the longterm consequences (for many years) of increased domestic abuse during the UK's lockdown.Even under normal circumstances, worldwide, about 30% of women report intimate partner violence (physical, sexual, or both) in their lifetime. 3 It is estimated that 1.3 million women suffered from domestic abuse in England and Wales during the year ending March 2018. 4 These women are at increased risk of experiencing difficulties with activities of daily living, gastrointestinal symptoms, chronic pain, memory loss, dizziness, headaches, vaginal discharge and sexually transmitted infections, emotional distress, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and suicidal thoughts and attempts. [5][6][7][8] As they grow into adulthood, their children are more likely to have problems with drug and alcohol use, violence, sexual risk taking, mental ill health, smoking, cancer, and cardiac and respiratory disease. 9 The dynamics of domestic abuse are not straightforward. 10 In some relationships situational couple violence predominates,
