The rise of 'corona divorce' amid Japan’s domestic violence shadow pandemic

By Suki Chung, East Asia Campaigner at Amnesty International The pandemic was a kiss of death to my friend’s already troubled marriage. When her abusive and controlling husband had to work from home in April and May during the COVID-19 national emergency, she was forced to spend long hours with him in their home in Kanagawa Prefecture. “I’ve had enough,” she told me crying, after he’d kicked her in the leg and back during an argument over shrinking family income. She said she was not brave enough to end the relationship, but believed that easing lockdown measures would bring society and her family back to normal. But what is normal? Prior to COVID-19, the number of women contacting domestic...