Editorial

In March 2020, none of us could have anticipated that the global pandemic, referred to in our July and December 2020 journal issues, would still be so catastrophically active, causing distress and carnage beyond the physical symptoms caused by the virus and, at the time of writing, almost four million deaths from the virus recorded. Beyond the terrible grief experienced by so many family members, friends, and colleagues of those who have died, other consequences around the world include experiences of fear, uncertainty, loss of control, isolation; or the opposite, intrusiveness, socio-economic worries including destitution, have been devastating in so many communities. Many people report feeling drained and having run out of coping strategies. Those already vulnerable for mental health and/or socio-economic reasons have suffered the most.

The International Association for Forensic Psychotherapy's 29th conference, postponed from April 2020, was held online instead of in the beautiful city of Bilbao as had been originally planned. The theme was “Gendercide”, referring in the broadest sense to violence acted out as a result of an individual's gender. Striking as the pandemic went on, month after month, were the reports of increased violence in domestic settings, these soaring under the strict lockdowns. Although both women and men are affected as victims, the incidence and severity are much greater for women and girls. Indeed, so profound has the increase in violence against women been during Covid-19 that the United Nations have described it as “The Shadow Pandemic” (UN Women, 2021). This research suggests, even prior to lockdown, an estimated one in three women worldwide experienced physical or sexual violence, mostly instigated by an intimate partner, but in a context that is structural as well as personal. Gendered violence has been amplified during the pandemic not only due to the global increase in numbers, but also as the prevalence with which violence against wo