Lo Azriel, Griffin Georgia, Byambadash Hana, Mitchell Erin, Dantas Jaya A R
Curtin School of Population Health, Curtin University, Bentley 6102, Australia.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2025 Apr 16;22(4):627. doi: 10.3390/ijerph22040627.
The COVID-19 pandemic had acute and lasting gendered impacts around the world, with UN Women declaring a shadow pandemic of violence against women. This study aimed to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on migrant and refugee women's experiences of family domestic violence (FDV) in Western Australia (WA) using a community-based participatory research approach. Thirty-eight interviews and two qualitative surveys conducted with 27 women were included in the analysis. Interview and survey data underwent reflexive thematic analysis informed by the Power and Control Wheel, generating three themes and ten subthemes: (1) the facets of violence women experienced (isolation; economic violence; emotional violence; visa vulnerabilities; fear and uncertainty), (2) the systemic enablers of FDV and barriers to seeking help (FDV service provision; the immigration system), and (3) the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and government measures on women and family (enabling FDV; reducing the impact of FDV; COVID-19 paled into insignificance). While for some migrant and refugee women, government measures facilitated access to support for FDV, our findings show that for others, the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated and became part of the violence they had already experienced. Recommendations for tailored FDV and other support during the COVID-19 pandemic are discussed, including the expansion of family violence provisions for all visa types.
新冠疫情在全球产生了严重且持久的性别化影响，联合国妇女署宣称针对妇女的暴力行为已成为一场“影子疫情”。本研究旨在运用基于社区的参与式研究方法，探究新冠疫情对西澳大利亚州（WA）移民和难民妇女遭受家庭内暴力（FDV）经历的影响。分析纳入了对27名女性进行的38次访谈和两项定性调查。访谈和调查数据采用了以权力与控制轮为依据的反思性主题分析方法，得出了三个主题和十个子主题：（1）妇女所经历的暴力方面（隔离；经济暴力；情感暴力；签证脆弱性；恐惧与不确定性），（2）家庭内暴力的系统性促成因素及寻求帮助的障碍（家庭内暴力服务提供；移民系统），以及（3）新冠疫情和政府措施对妇女及家庭的影响（促成家庭内暴力；减轻家庭内暴力的影响；新冠疫情变得微不足道）。虽然对于一些移民和难民妇女而言，政府措施有助于获得针对家庭内暴力的支持，但我们的研究结果表明，对另一些人来说，新冠疫情加剧了她们所遭受的暴力，并成为她们已有经历的一部分。本文讨论了在新冠疫情期间针对家庭内暴力及其他支持的针对性建议，包括扩大针对所有签证类型的家庭暴力条款。
