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Expectations of researchers, media, public officials, and practitioners seemed aligned with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Domestic Violence would rise, in prevalence and reporting, due to the effect of the lockdown measures on known risk factors, such as financial insecurity, psychological strain, social isolation, and decreased access to services. The data emerging paints a less uniform picture between different Member States and frontline responder sectors.

On the basis of data collected by the IMPRODOVA-Consortium, a clear empirical observation can be made: while a homogenous rise in service uptake in the social sector can be observed in each of the eight countries covered by the project, police reporting and data on domestic violence is comparatively heterogenous. While law enforcement in some countries recorded a sharp rise in DV incidents during the lockdown periods, others saw reporting numbers and data stagnate or drop. Working from the assumption, that patterns of violence are less heterogenous than the data collected by LEAs, the question arises how to explain this divergence.

In the presentation, three hypotheses will be investigated: Frist, heterogeneous data as statistical artefact. Second, specific forms of violence enhanced by the lockdown delay the uptake of certain services by victims. Third, socio-legal and organisational differences influencing reporting and data produce differences among Member States.