CoronaCrime #55

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a terrible toll on lives, illness, and economic devastation and it is having diverse effects on violence and crime. Daily Prevention News publishes weekly a Corona Crime Issue dedicated to collect related news and information.

1. What crime and helpline data say about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on reported violence against women and girls
   The aim of this research brief is to provide evidence that improves understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on violence against women and girls, by focusing on crime reported to authorities and incidents reported to helplines. The analysis covers data on violence against women and girls collected by UNODC during 2020 on victims of homicide by intimate partners, on victims of “femicide”, on sexual assault and rape reported to the authorities, and on calls made to helplines supporting victims of crime and women experiencing gender-based violence. Source: UNODC
2. CYBERCRIME AND COVID19 in Southeast Asia: an evolving picture
   This briefing provides a Southeast Asia-focussed update to our snapshot cybercrime analysis of April 2020. It intends to bolster ongoing collaboration and suggests new avenues for addressing cyber threats, taking the UN Crime Congress Kyoto Declaration into account. Source: UNODC
3. The impact of COVID-19 on organized crime
   The COVID-19 pandemic has swept across the world, killing hundreds of thousands of people, and testing public healthcare systems to a breaking point. Many areas of economic activity have either been shut down by governments to halt the spread of the virus or have seen demand collapse. In many countries where organized criminal groups are prevalent, struggling private businesses – many unable to access enough public funds to keep them afloat – are more likely to seek out loans on the illicit market than they would be at other times. Source: UNODC
4. Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions on homicide and property crime
   This research brief is aimed at providing initial observations about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on four types of crime: homicide, robbery, theft and burglary. Based on ongoing data collection launched by UNODC in March 2020, trends before and after lockdown measures were introduced are compared in order to assess whether the measures have had a significant impact on those crimes. The possible longer-term impact of the emerging global economic crisis on the same forms of crime is also discussed. Source: UNODC
5. COVID-19 and the drug supply chain: from production and trafficking to use
   Drug trafficking relies heavily on legal trade to camouflage its activities and on individuals being able to distribute drugs to consumers. The measures implemented by Governments to counter the COVID-19 pandemic have thus inevitably affected all aspects of the illegal drug markets, from the production and trafficking of drugs to their consumption. Source: UNODC

Please find more information and news about the interlinkages between the Coronavirus, Crime and Violence in German published every Tuesday on our German News Service Tägliche Präventions News.