The Endemic Amid the Pandemic: Seeking Help for Violence Against Women in the Initial Phases of COVID-19.
J Interpers Violence
; 36(9-10): 4899-4915, 2021 05.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1127656
ABSTRACT
During the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments instituted a series of measures to control the spread of the virus. The measures were widely believed to increase women's risk of violent victimization, most of which is by an intimate partner. We examined help-seeking during this period in a large U.S. city and used an interrupted time series analysis to assess the effects of three government interventions on domestic violence and sexual assault hotline calls and on "911" calls regarding domestic violence, assault, and rape. Declaration of an emergency appeared to reduce victim calls to the rape crisis hotline and the few "911" calls about rape. School closure was associated with a reduction in "911" calls about assault and rape and victim calls to the domestic violence hotline. Implementation of stay-at-home orders was associated with a gradual increase in domestic violence hotline calls. Although "911" calls regarding assault fell by nearly half, calls to police for domestic violence were unchanged. In sum, there was a decrease in help-seeking for sexual assault and assault in general but not for domestic violence during the initial phases of the COVID-19 outbreak. The analysis underscores the importance of distinguishing between the violence itself, calls to police, and calls to helplines when claims are made about changes over time in violence against women. The opportunities and constraints for each can differ widely under usual circumstances, circumstances that were altered by public health interventions related to the pandemic.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Rape
/
Spouse Abuse
/
Quarantine
/
Domestic Violence
/
Pandemics
/
Help-Seeking Behavior
/
Intimate Partner Violence
/
COVID-19
/
Health Services Accessibility
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
J Interpers Violence
Journal subject:
Social Sciences
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
0886260521997946
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