Curfew

Armed police enforce a curfew in Atlanta, Georgia, during the 2020 George Floyd protests.

A curfew is an order that imposes certain regulations during specified hours.[1] Typically, curfews order all people affected by them to remain indoors during the evening and nighttime hours.[2][3] Such an order is most often issued by public authorities, but may also be given by the owner of a house to those living in the household. For instance, children are often given curfews by their parents, and an au pair is traditionally given a curfew by which time he or she must return to his or her host family's home. Some jurisdictions have juvenile curfews which affect all persons under a certain age not accompanied by an adult or engaged in certain approved activities.

Curfews have been used as a control measure in martial law, as well as for public safety in the event of a disaster, epidemic, or crisis.[4] Various countries have implemented such measures throughout history, including during World War II and the Gulf War. The enforcement of curfews has been found to disproportionately affect marginalised groups, including those who are homeless or have limited access to transportation.[5][6]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, curfews were implemented in several countries, including France, Italy, Poland and Australia, as a measure to limit the spread of the virus.[7][8] However, recent studies have reported negligible or no effect,[9] and even a potential increase in virus transmission.[10] The use and enforcement of curfews during the pandemic has been associated with human rights violations and mental health deterioration, further complicating their use as a control measure.[11][12] Curfews may also impact road safety, as studies indicate a potential decrease in crashes during curfew hours but an increase in crashes before curfew due to rushing.[13]

  1. ^ "Curfew Definition & Meaning". Dictionary.com. 2023. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  2. ^ "Definition of curfew". Oxford Dictionaries. 2012. Archived from the original on 7 July 2012.
  3. ^ Hudson, David L. Jr. (3 June 2020) [originally published 2009]. "Curfews". The First Amendment Encyclopedia.
  4. ^ "Curfew Laws". FindLaw.
  5. ^ Brass, Paul R. (2006). "Collective Violence, Human Rights, and the Politics of Curfew". Journal of Human Rights. 5 (3): 323–340. doi:10.1080/14754830600812324. S2CID 35491331.
  6. ^ Lerner, Kira (10 June 2020). "The Toll That Curfews Have Taken on Homeless Americans". The Appeal. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  7. ^ Daventry, Michael (24 October 2020). "Curfews and restrictions imposed across Europe as COVID-19 cases soar". Euronews. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  8. ^ Wood, Patrick (6 August 2020). "Why did Melbourne impose a curfew? It's not entirely clear". ABC News. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  9. ^ de Haas, Samuel; Götz, Georg; Heim, Sven (2022). "Measuring the effect of COVID-19-related night curfews in a bundled intervention within Germany". Scientific Reports. 12 (1) 19732. Springer Nature: 19732. doi:10.1038/s41598-022-24086-9. PMC 9669542. PMID 36396710.
  10. ^ Sprengholz, Philipp; Siegers, Regina; Goldhahn, Laura; Eitze, Sarah; Betsch, Cornelia (2021). "Good night: Experimental evidence that nighttime curfews may fuel disease dynamics by increasing contact density". Social Science & Medicine. 288: 114324. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114324. PMC 8426215. PMID 34419633.
  11. ^ "Philippines: Curfew Violators Abused". Human Rights Watch. 26 March 2020. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  12. ^ Almomani, Ensaf Y.; Qablan, Ahmad M.; Almomany, Abbas M.; Atrooz, Fatin Y. (2021). "The coping strategies followed by university students to mitigate the COVID-19 quarantine psychological impact". Curr Psychol. 40 (11): 5772–5781. doi:10.1007/s12144-021-01833-1. ISSN 1046-1310. PMC 8106545. PMID 33994758.
  13. ^ Bedoya Arguelles, Guadalupe; Dolinger, Amy; Dolkart, Caitlin Fitzgerald; Legovini, Arianna; Milusheva, Sveta; Marty, Robert Andrew; Taniform, Peter Ngwa (5 April 2023). The Unintended Consequences of Curfews on Road Safety (PDF) (Policy Research Working Paper). Retrieved 18 April 2023.