By Claudia Boyd-Barrett, California Health Report, July 29, 2021
For Lydia, 40, of southeast Los Angeles County, there was nothing safe about staying at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Being home meant being stuck with her abusive husband who beat her and tried to control her every move. The abuse predated the pandemic – her three children went to live with a family member in 2018 because of it. But when Lydia’s husband lost his job because of the shutdown, he became angry and bored, and the violence escalated. Every day, he would surveil Lydia over Bluetooth while she continued to work her job at a trucking company. He’d wait to make sure she arrived home immediately afterward, without time to stop anywhere on the way. When she walked in the door, he’d take away her cell phone, paycheck and keys. And when he got upset—which happened ever more frequently as the pandemic wore on—he became dangerously violent, Lydia said.
“I was getting beat because he had no money, because there was no meat at the market. Everything became my fault, and I just became a punching bag,” said Lydia, who asked that her real name not be used because she still fears for her life.
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