CRIMINOLOGY ANALYSIS OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND FAMILY VIOLENCE IN REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA DURING THE PANDEMIC-COVID 19

Abstract

In emergency situations such as the global pandemic caused by the deadly virus Covid-19, family
violence as a phenomenon is often overlooked. In front of the public eye, patterns of delinquent behavior were
changing and the characteristics of crime in general. The whole world was focused on the pressure on health
systems, measures to protect human health and the economy. Family violence has become an even more serious
problem, a parallel "shadow pandemic" which globally recorded an increase of 20% in conditions when the overall
crime rate in 2020 was in expected decline. At first glance, such indicators do not surprise, either bypassed Republic
of North Macedonia in view of the epidemiological measures that partially or completely restricted the movement of
citizens throughout the entire territory of the country in order to prevent the spread of the Covid 19 infection. The
states were put to a serious test in the planning and design of the measures and in terms of the readiness of the
institutions in the protection against violence, where the rights of women victims of domestic violence were the first
to be hit. Practically, the most vulnerable among us were inadvertently put in a "trap", forcibly confined in their
already insecure home together with potential abusers. The prevalence of violence against women and family
violence in general is difficult to determine and quantify, taking into account the sensitivity and complexity of the
subject, distrust in institutions and stigmatization of victims. However, the author within the scope of the
researchwill try to give a general overview of the situation, including comparative indicators and the problems with
family violence and discrimination that women faced during the world's largest pandemic in Republic of North
Macedonia in 2020, against the effectiveness of government measuresthat caused limited movement, social isolation
and financial insecurity. The analysis of these issues requires a quantitative approach that includes various research
tools and methods, relevant documents, laws, studies, performed analyses, statistical reports from competent
institutions in the field of domestic violence and gender-based violence with a central focus on women-victims. But
when we talk about the problem in question, it is necessary to emphasize that this type of delinquent behavior is
characterized by a high dark figure of representation in reality. It is certain that the used data of non-governmental
women's organizations and studies deviate in many cases from the official statistics of registered crime and the true
picture of the phenomenology of family violence.