https://doi.org/10.1177/1010539520962965 Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health 1–2 © 2020 APJPH Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/1010539520962965 journals.sagepub.com/home/aph Article What We Already Know: • Domestic violence, although recognised as a pressing issue for decades, is far from being resolved. • Local or national lockdowns have shown rise in inci- dences of domestic violence worldwide. • Domestic violence is a serious criminal offence, but cultural beliefs mask it as a taboo subject. What This Article Adds: • Despite existing legislation, the offenders are hardly ever brought to justice. • evidence of rise in domestic violence in pakistan dur- ing COVID-19 lockdown. • strategies to counter domestic violence in Pakistan. These are surely unprecedented times, as the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) continues to show increasing trends of infectivity and deaths worldwide. However, the same cannot be said about domestic violence, an endemic condition that has worsened over the decades. Following the previous outbreaks of cholera, Zika virus, and Ebola virus, rise in domestic violence was seen during lockdowns, along with reductions in funding of public health services. 1 Due to a patriarchal society, more than 90% of married Pakistani women reportedly endure physical or sexual abuse, 2 which is considered a private family matter and not a crime to be reported. This grim actuality is deep-rooted in our society and, by international laws, is a clear human rights violation. 2 Each province has legislation to enforce the protection of women, 3 which are based on Islamic Shari’ah. 4 Nevertheless, serious violations continue, due to lack of implementation of existing laws and amendments, and as the justice system fails them, the victims are trapped without recourse. Staying in close confinement with the abuser not only amplifies the degree and frequency of violence but also makes it difficult for victims to contact social, protective, and health care services, crisis centers, or have access to outside help from friends and families, thereby instilling fear, feelings of persecution, and complete hopelessness. Preexisting psychi- atric illnesses can worsen, which further limits the ability to cope with conflicts. Accordingly, we can agree that stay-at-home orders to limit the spread of COVID-19 certainly do not guarantee safety for families, who are faced with a lethal virus outdoors and abusers at home, who use these restrictions and spread misinformation about the disease to exert dominance and 962965APH XX X 10.1177/1010539520962965Asia Pacific Journal of Public HealthBaig et al research-article 2020 1 Ziauddin Medical University, Karachi, Pakistan Corresponding Author: Numra Altaf Tunio, Ziauddin Medical University, 4/B, Shahrah-e-Ghalib, Block 6, Clifton, Karachi, Sindh 75600, Pakistan. Email: numra.altaf14@gmail.com Domestic Violence Amid COVID-19 Pandemic: Pakistan’s Perspective Mirza Altamish Muhammad Baig, MBBS 1 , Sajjad Ali, MBBS 1 , and Numra Altaf Tunio, MBBS 1 Abstract While the coronavirus pandemic has spread around the world like wildfire since almost 7 months of its emergence, domestic violence has been breeding endlessly like a “silent pandemic” and is similarly globally persevered. Violence against women exacerbates during such emergencies on account of heightened tension and close living conditions due to lockdowns regulated by state orders. In Pakistan, where domestic violence is a “taboo” object of discussion, help is not provided from neighboring citizens, or even by law enforcers, leaving victims to endure in solitude acts of verbal, physical, psychological, and sexual abuse in the name of alleged supremacy of the assailant. Keywords domestic violence, women’s health/violence, COVID-19, Pakistan, lockdown