Locked Down with the Perpetrator: The Hidden Impacts of COVID-19 on Domestic and Family Violence in Australia

Prior to the COVID-19 global pandemic, domestic and family violence (DFV) had been recognised globally as an epidemic in its own right. Further, research has established that during times of crisis and/or after disasters, rates of DFV can escalate. The COVID-19 pandemic has been no exception, with emerging research from around the world confirming that the public health measures and social effects associated with COVID-19 have increased the frequency and severity of DFV in various countries. In contributing to this evolving body of literature, this paper reports on the findings of a national research project that examined the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic on DFV in Australia. This nationwide survey of service providers indicates the public health responses to COVID-19 such as lockdowns and travel restrictions, while necessary to stem the pandemic, have had profound effects on increasing women’s risk and vulnerability to domestic violence, while at the same time making it more difficult for women to leave violent relationships and access support. However, this vulnerability is not evenly distributed. The pandemic pushed marginalised voices further underground, with many unable to seek help, locked down with their abuser. Our survey sought to amplify the experiences of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities;Indigenous communities;lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, + (LGBTIQ+) communities;women locked down with school-age children;those already in violent relationships;and those whose first experience of domestic violence coincided with the onset of the pandemic. For logistical and ethical reasons, we could only access their voices through the responses from the domestic violence sector.

Access to Justice in an Age of Uncertainty

In countries like Australia, where the infection and death rates have been low compared to other parts of the world, lockdowns and social restrictions associated with limiting the spread of the virus have resulted in sharp increases in domestic and family violence, alcohol and substance abuse, mental health and physical health problems, job losses and business closures that are linked to unemployment, resulting in higher rates of poverty and homelessness (Carrington et al. 2021;Morley et al. 2021). In doing so, each of the author contributors have considered the following key questions: * Which individuals, social groups, communities or populations are particularly marginalised by the current context and why? * What are the ongoing, emerging and new barriers these groups face in accessing justice in the age of global uncertainty? * What social and political changes might be helpful in addressing the urgent social problems plaguing our world? * What key changes are required (to practice, policy or other mechanisms) that augment access to justice in the current context? While drawn from wide-ranging and diverse topics - the rise of recruitment fraud;the barriers academic staff face in supporting international students in the current neoliberal higher education sector that has been butchered since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic;and the challenges human services practitioners face in neoliberal organisations that have transitioned online work during COVID-19-related lockdowns at a time when this work became much more demanding and complex - not surprisingly, most submissions have focused on accessing basic human rights, such as economic security and affordable housing. In highlighting this important issue, they explain how offenders use employment advertisements to recruit would-be applicants to send personal information that compromises their fnancial security or to pay fees that then expose them to a range of violations, including identity theft and fraud.

Genomics-informed outbreak investigations of SARS-CoV-2 using civet (preprint)

The scale of data produced during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has been unprecedented, with more than 5 million sequences shared publicly at the time of writing. This wealth of sequence data provides important context for interpreting local outbreaks. However, placing sequences of interest into national and international context is difficult given the size of the global dataset. Often outbreak investigations and genomic surveillance efforts require running similar analyses again and again on the latest dataset and producing reports. We developed civet (cluster investigation and virus epidemiology tool) to aid these routine analyses and facilitate virus outbreak investigation and surveillance. Civet can place sequences of interest in the local context of background diversity, resolving the query into different 'catchments' and presenting the phylogenetic results alongside metadata in an interactive, distributable report. Civet can be used on a fine scale for clinical outbreak investigation, for local surveillance and cluster discovery, and to routinely summarise the virus diversity circulating on a national level. Civet reports have helped researchers and public health bodies feedback genomic information in the appropriate context within a timeframe that is useful for public health.

Global disparities in SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance (preprint)

Genomic sequencing provides critical information to track the evolution and spread of SARS-CoV-2, optimize molecular tests, treatments and vaccines, and guide public health responses. To investigate the spatiotemporal heterogeneity in the global SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance, we estimated the impact of sequencing intensity and turnaround times (TAT) on variant detection in 167 countries. Most countries submit genomes >21 days after sample collection, and 77% of low and middle income countries sequenced <0.5% of their cases. We found that sequencing at least 0.5% of the cases, with a TAT <21 days, could be a benchmark for SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance efforts. Socioeconomic inequalities substantially impact our ability to quickly detect SARS-CoV-2 variants, and undermine the global pandemic preparedness. One-Sentence SummarySocioeconomic inequalities impacted the SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance, and undermined the global pandemic preparedness.