Department of Behavioral Social and Health Education Sciences, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Rd, 30322, Atlanta, USA.
Hubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Rd, 30322, Atlanta, USA.
BMC Public Health. 2023 Jan 30;23(1):199. doi: 10.1186/s12889-023-15137-5.
Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) poses a serious public health threat globally and within the United States. Preliminary evidence highlighted surges in IPV during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic offers a unique context, with many states and countries enacting movement-restrictions (i.e., shelter-in-place orders) that exacerbated IPV. Although these movement restrictions and other infection control methods (i.e., isolation, quarantine orders) have proven successful in reducing the spread of COVID-19, their impacts on IPV have not been thoroughly investigated. Specifically, public health measures restricting movement reinforce and socially legitimize isolation and coercive control tactics enacted by perpetrators of abuse. The purpose of this study was to understand the impacts of COVID-19, including the impacts of movement restrictions (i.e., shelter in place orders, quarantine, isolation orders) on experiences of IPV from the perspective of survivors.
In-depth interviews were conducted with ten survivors who presented at a large, public hospital or sought community IPV resources (i.e., domestic violence shelter, therapy services) in Atlanta, Georgia between March and December 2020. Thematic analysis was carried out to describe the impact of COVID-19 movement restrictions on IPV and help-seeking behaviors among survivors, in addition to identifying resources to improve IPV response during pandemics.
Through discussion of their experiences, survivors indicated how movement restrictions, social distancing measures, and the repercussions of the pandemic influenced their relationship challenges, including the occurrence of new or a higher frequency and/or severity of IPV episodes. Survivors cited relationship challenges that were amplified by either movement restrictions or consequences of COVID-19, including reinforced control tactics, and increased financial or life stressors resulting from the pandemic. COVID-19 movement restrictions catalyzed new relationships quickly and sparked new or intensified violence in existing relationships, revealing gaps in IPV support services.
These findings suggest COVID-19 movement restrictions and social distancing measures amplify IPV and experiences of trauma due to new or exacerbated relationship challenges. Further, results highlight how partners cited COVID-19 movement restrictions to justify methods of coercive control. Public health professionals engaged in pandemic preparedness must give serious consideration to how social distancing measures may amplify trauma in those experiencing IPV.
亲密伴侣暴力（IPV）在全球范围内和美国都构成了严重的公共卫生威胁。初步证据强调了 COVID-19 大流行期间 IPV 的激增。大流行提供了一个独特的背景，许多州和国家都实施了限制行动（即就地避难所命令），这加剧了 IPV。尽管这些行动限制和其他感染控制方法（即隔离、检疫命令）已被证明在减少 COVID-19 的传播方面取得了成功，但它们对 IPV 的影响尚未得到彻底调查。具体而言，限制行动的公共卫生措施强化并在社会上使虐待行为者实施的隔离和强制控制策略合法化。本研究的目的是从幸存者的角度了解 COVID-19 的影响，包括行动限制（即就地避难所命令、检疫、隔离命令）对 IPV 经历的影响。
对 2020 年 3 月至 12 月期间在佐治亚州亚特兰大的一家大型公立医院就诊或寻求社区 IPV 资源（即家庭暴力庇护所、治疗服务）的 10 名幸存者进行了深入访谈。进行了主题分析，以描述 COVID-19 行动限制对幸存者的 IPV 和寻求帮助行为的影响，并确定在大流行期间改善 IPV 应对措施的资源。
通过讨论他们的经历，幸存者表明行动限制、社交距离措施以及大流行的后果如何影响他们的关系挑战，包括新的或更高频率和/或严重程度的 IPV 发作。幸存者提到了因行动限制或 COVID-19 的后果而加剧的关系挑战，包括强化的控制策略以及大流行带来的财务或生活压力增加。COVID-19 行动限制迅速催化了新的关系，并在现有关系中引发了新的或加剧的暴力，暴露出 IPV 支持服务的差距。
这些发现表明 COVID-19 行动限制和社交距离措施因新的或加剧的关系挑战而放大了 IPV 和创伤经历。此外，结果还强调了伴侣如何引用 COVID-19 行动限制来为强制控制方法辩护。参与大流行准备的公共卫生专业人员必须认真考虑社交距离措施如何在经历 IPV 的人中放大创伤。
