California has seen a significant increase in physical and sexual violence since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report from the California Study on Violence Experiences across the Lifespan (CalVEX), StudyFinds has reported.
The report, carried out by scientists at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, reports that 18% of Californians experienced either physical or sexual violence in the past year, while 4% suffered intimate partner violence.
Physical violence has almost doubled among men between 2020, the start of the pandemic, and 2022.
"Californians are experiencing violence at epidemic proportions," said principal investigator Anita Raj, Ph.D., professor at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and Division of Social Sciences, in a press release.
"Current violence prevention efforts are clearly woefully inadequate and often ignore the gendered nature of violence, its intersections with other socioeconomic vulnerabilities, and its disproportionate effects on marginalized populations."
The authors of the study pointed out that relying on criminal justice data to analyze violence almost always fails to account for the "full picture," since most victims never report about violence that happens behind closed doors, according to StudyFinds.
For this reason, CalVEX surveyed a representative sample of adults across the state, and then used those responses to estimate population rates.
Other results from the study include:
- Men are more likely than women to have dealt with physical violence, while women are more likely than men to have experienced various types of sexual violence.
- Among women, 82% report experiencing anxiety or depression due to physically aggressive, coercive, or forced sexual behavior.
- Women who have experienced physical violence are also twice as likely as men to miss work, miss school, or change/quit a job.
- Experiencing financial distress, such as facing eviction or food insecurity, is linked to a two to eight times increased risk of violence.
"Our findings suggest the rising rates of violence are linked to the harsher social climate, economic insecurity, and poorer physical and mental health that many Californians have experienced over the last few years due to the pandemic," Raj said.
The study recommended new policies to strengthen social and economic safety nets, programs in violence prevention, and mental health services in the state, claiming that such a multilevel approach could both address the current crisis and support post-pandemic rebuilding, if applied correctly.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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