Experiences of Intimate Partner Violence during Lockdown and the COVID-19 Pandemic

Previous studies have demonstrated that there is an increase in Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) during times of crisis (e.g., financial, environmental, or socio-political situations). The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered an unprecedented global health and financial tragedy, but research is yet to establish exactly how the situation may impact on IPV. The present study investigates victims’ experience of IPV during lockdown and the COVID-19 pandemic. We report a qualitative thematic analysis of 50 discussion forum posts written by victims of IPV. Of these, 48 forum posts were written by female victims of male perpetrated violence. All forum posts were obtained from the popular online platform, Reddit. We identified four themes associated with IPV victims’ experiences during lockdown and the global pandemic: (i) Use of COVID-19 by the Abuser, (ii) Service Disruption, (iii) Preparation to Leave, and (iv) Factors Increasing Abuse or Distress. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a substantial impact on those living with IPV, often increasing the severity of IPV experienced. The experiences of those affected by IPV during this period inform interventions and the guidance and support provided to IPV victims during times of crisis.

     

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Intimate Partner Violence Advocates and Agencies

Relatively few studies have considered the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on intimate partner violence (IPV) advocates or the agencies where they work. In this study, based on United States IPV advocates’ experiences working with survivors during the COVID-19 pandemic, we conducted interviews to explore: 1) personal challenges and resilience working as IPV advocates during the COVID-19 pandemic; 2) how agencies adapted to the pandemic to support IPV survivors and advocates; and 3) specific needs and challenges of culturally-specific agencies. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 53 IPV advocates from June to November 2020. Participants were included if they worked directly with survivors, identified as an IPV advocate, worked at a US-based agency, and spoke and understood English. We created a sampling matrix to ensure adequate representation from IPV advocates serving survivors from communities which have been marginalized. Interviews were conducted through a virtual platform by a trained member of the research team. We used an inductive thematic analysis approach, with weekly coding meetings to resolve discrepancies in coding. Five themes emerged from the data: 1) IPV advocates described how working as an IPV advocate during the COVID-19 pandemic impacted them personally; 2) agencies developed new methods of addressing IPV advocates’ needs; 3) agencies developed new solutions to address pandemic-related client needs; 4) transitioning advocacy work to virtual formats created challenges but also opportunities and; 5) pandemic limitations and impacts compounded pre-pandemic challenges for culturally specific agencies. IPV advocates are frontline workers who have played essential roles in adjusting services to meet survivor needs during the COVID-19 pandemic while simultaneously coping with pandemic impacts on themselves and their agencies. Developing inter-agency collaborations and promoting advocates’ safety and wellbeing during future public health crises will help support IPV survivors.

     

Identifying and Responding to the Complex Needs of Domestic Violence Housing Practitioners at the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The social, financial, and emotional repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic has left many organizations that support survivors of intimate partner violence questioning how to maintain core services while addressing compounding individual, organizational, and public health issues. Stay-at-home orders and other COVID-19 mitigation strategies have resulted in reduced shelter availability and increased intimate partner violence rates. Coupled with the economic impact of the pandemic, these factors have threatened financial and housing stability. To better understand these challenges and provide immediate support, The National Alliance for Safe Housing (NASH) co-hosted a peer support call to provide a virtual platform for practitioners to ask questions, discuss challenges, and share strategies for quality service provision during the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 800 practitioners from across the United States participated in the NASH call, most of whom were advocates, program directors, and managers. NASH gathered data on practitioners’ needs from a brief survey from the registration form analyzed using conventional inductive content analysis. Practitioners’ primary concerns were situated within eight questions, which we categorized into four meta-categories: (1) managing residential housing programs; (2) getting survivors materials resources; (3) keeping staff safe; and (4) maintaining organizational operations. The paper concludes with community-grounded and empirically supported practice recommendations aligned with practitioners’ expressed needs.

     

Combating Domestic Violence During COVID-19: What Does the Chinese Experience Show Us?

Previous evidence demonstrates that a public health crisis triggers and intensifies domestic violence, especially against women. The pandemic of COVID-19 supported this observation, as the world witnessed an increase in domestic violence. China has witnessed a similar trend. While the Chinese government is applying a stringent model of virus control measures over COVID-19 when compared to certain other countries, many questions remain: How is this impacting the situation of domestic violence in China? What has China done to combat domestic violence during COVID-19? What can we learn from the Chinese experience? This article intends to answer these questions by reviewing reports and media coverage and conducting interviews with stakeholders. First, it examines causes of domestic violence during COVID-19. Second, it analyses the types and features of domestic violence during COVID-19. Third, the article intends to discover the current difficulties in combatting domestic violence. Fourth, it presents good practices for specific local areas. Last, it concludes with recommendations for tackling domestic violence during public health crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, by understanding the Chinese experience.     

Emergency powers,anti-corruption,and policy failures during the COVID-19 pandemic in Puerto Rico

This paper explores how the use of emergency powers by the US and Puerto Rican governments exacerbated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and manufactured the conditions for furthering the multilayered economic, legal, political, and humanitarian crisis affecting Puerto Rico since 2006. The paper discusses three cases. First, it examines how the multiple declarations of the state of emergency, and its constant renewals, produced contradictory public health policies. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, the Puerto Rican government has issued over 90 executive orders aimed at addressing the emergency, producing an unclear, contradictory, and unequal emergency management policy. Second, the paper focuses on the impact of the passing of Law 35 on April 5, 2020, which imposed severe penalties on those who disobeyed executive orders. As a result, hundreds of Puerto Ricans were arrested, fined, and incarcerated for violating the issued order. Third, the paper studies how, citing the presence of corruption, the Puerto Rican government implemented anti-corruption and anti-fraud policies that made it more difficult for those most in need of it—mainly poor and racialized individuals, as well as immigrants and working women—to access Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. Thus, the paper argues that emergency policies designed to address the pandemic, punitive governance, and anti-corruption and anti-fraud policies undermined Puerto Rico's capacity to handle the pandemic, exacerbated its impact, and created an unequal recovery scenario.     

COVID-19 Specific Risk Markers for Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration

Intimate partner violence (IPV) rates have grown alongside the sweeping changes, challenges, and transitions necessitated by the onset of COVID-19. The goal of this exploratory study was to examine COVID-19 related risk markers for IPV perpetration. Data were collected from a national sample of 365 U.S. individuals who were in a relationship during August 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 epidemic. Unadjusted odds ratios were calculated for 27 unique risk markers related to lifestyle changes due to COVID-19, mental health, isolation, financial impacts, and COVID-19 diagnoses. The strongest risk markers for IPV perpetration were feelings of loneliness, followed by anxiety symptoms, perceived stress, fear, boredom, substance use and lifestyle changes. Understanding risk markers associated with an increase in IPV perpetration can aid helping professionals identify individuals who may be at risk for IPV, or target these factors to aid in IPV prevention and intervention efforts.

     

Elder Mistreatment Victims during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Administrative Data from San Francisco Adult Protective Services

This study examined elder mistreatment victims’ experiences at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on their COVID-19 awareness and unmet needs. San Francisco Adult Protective Services (APS) caseworkers conducted phone interviews with clients or collaterals (client’s family, trusted other, or service provider) to inquire about clients’ awareness of COVID-19 and unmet needs. Nine-hundred-and-thirty-four (71%) of 1,313 APS’ past clients or their collaterals were interviewed, with 741 (79%) responding positively to COVID-19-awareness questions, and 697 (75%) having no unmet needs. Binary logistic regression with Firth adjusted maximum likelihood estimation method revealed that older persons (p?<?.05), self-neglectors (p?<?.05), and victims of neglect (p?<?.05) were less aware of COVID-19. Unmet needs varied by mistreatment type. Victims of isolation were more likely to have medical needs (p?<?.05), while victims of emotional abuse were more likely to report loneliness (p?<?.001). Case notes reflected clients who were well-prepared for the pandemic, versus those who required additional assistance to follow preventative measures of the COVID-19 pandemic to stay home. Although the majority of San Francisco APS’ past clients experienced no unmet needs at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the prolonged length and intensity of the pandemic could have exacerbated this vulnerable group’s situation. Collaboration between service providers is key in assisting victims experiencing unmet needs to live safely in a public health crisis, especially underserved victims of specific ethnic backgrounds.

     

新冠疾病对法医精神病鉴定的挑战与思考

新冠疾病(COVID-19)传染性强,潜伏期长,已在全球快速蔓延,给司法鉴定带来新的挑战.本文对COVID-19疫情下法医精神病鉴定的日常工作相关环节如何避免感染,COVID-19导致的器质性与功能性精神损伤特点及其损伤/伤残评定,COVID-19与精神卫生医疗机构医疗纠纷的防范及法医学鉴定思路等方面进行了探讨,并提出...     

虚拟解剖在新型冠状病毒肺炎法医病理学研究中的应用展望

传染病死者的尸体解剖对于公共卫生事件的管理具有重要意义。由于多种原因限制,新型冠状病毒肺炎(corona virus disease 2019,COVID-19)疫情发生以来,对2019新型冠状病毒感染死者进行法医学尸体解剖的数量较少,使法医学在传染病防治中的作用未能及时发挥。虚拟解剖(virtual autopsy,virtopsy)对传染病死者尸体的检验具有独特的优势,积累虚拟解剖影像学资料对COVID-19的病理机制研究及临床诊治具有重要意义。本文介绍了COVID-19的病理学和影像学改变的对应关系以及虚拟解剖在传染病尸体检验中的应用,旨在为法医工作者在COVID-19疫情中开展虚拟解剖检验提供参考。     

The Impact of COVID-19 Restrictions on Victim Advocacy Agency Utilization Across Pennsylvania

This brief report highlights the impact of the COVID-19 restrictions on the utilization of Victim Advocacy Agencies’ (VAAs’) services across Pennsylvania, using VAA utilization data from 2019–2020. VAA utilization data in this report were collected from 2019–2020 by the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape (PCAR). VAA utilization data were anchored to COVID-19 restriction timelines, defined by the Pennsylvania Office of the Governor. For each month, a percent change in VAA utilization (e.g., Jan 2020 utilization compared to Jan 2019 utilization) was calculated. A one-way ANOVA was run to assess whether the association between restriction phase and percent change in overall VAA utilization from 2019 to 2020 was statistically significant. A substantial decrease in VAA utilization was observed once lockdown restrictions were enacted, as well as a sustained decrease in utilization between 2019 and 2020. When restrictions were eased, an increase in service utilization was noted. This pattern of findings held for the three variables assessed: hotline utilization, new client, and medical accompaniments for FREs per month. The one-way ANOVA confirmed a statistically significant decrease in overall VAA utilization when comparing the most severe COVID-19 related restrictions to both pre-COVID and less severe restrictions. A variety of barriers (e.g., financial instability, loss of childcare, technology access, chronic physical proximity to abuser, hospital visitation restrictions, fears of contracting the virus) may result in decreased utilization of VAA services. Future research should investigate the relevance of potential causal mechanisms behind VAA utilization to help inform intervention approaches.

     

Reproducing crises: Understanding the role of law in the COVID-19 global pandemic

Governmental responses to the COVID-19 global pandemic have generated numerous constitutionals, policy, legal, and political-economic debates. Scholarly engagements with the sociolegal and policy consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic have been dominated by discussion on the role of emergency powers, the suspension of individual civil liberties, the suspension of economic rules in order to guarantee economic survival, and social regulation of public spaces and of workplaces. This paper aims to explore how a critical sociolegal scholarship can contribute to a more sophisticated understanding of the role of law in creating the unequal conditions that propitiated the COVID-19 pandemic and that might enable further crises. This introduction offers a roadmap for theorizing the limits of law, the operationalization of emergency powers and the different policies implemented by global south and north countries in response to the pandemic. This introduction is structured as follow: (1) provides a general overview of the law and society tradition and its engagement with the COVID-19 pandemic; (2) engages with three key consequences of the pandemic, labor, and the lockdown; colonial implications; and the limits of law; (3) introduces the papers in this special issue; (4) sketches a proposal for the critical sociolegal scholarship of law and crises.     

新冠疾病对法医学鉴定的影响和挑战

新冠疾病疫情之下,法医学鉴定活动不可能停止,法医学鉴定的对象可能为COVID-19。开展鉴定的法医人员面临很大的感染风险,因此法医鉴定机构和法医鉴定人应当提高感染风险认识,加强防控措施,提升防控应对能力,遵守法律及伦理规范,加强与临床有关问题研究。     

Understanding Domestic Violence in India During COVID-19: a Routine Activity Approach

Domestic violence, a prevalent problem in India, saw an increase during the lockdown imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19. This article explores the factors associated with an increase in domestic violence incidents during COVID-19 by applying routine activity theory (RAT) framework. Data were drawn from the incidents of domestic violence reported in newspapers. Data was analyzed using content analysis and three major themes, i.e., three principle components of RAT—motivated offender, suitable target, and absence of capable guardian—were drawn. Findings reveal that sources of motivation in domestic violence perpetrators during the lockdown were alcohol and unemployment. The symbolic value that perpetrators associated with women, lower inertia, visibility, and accessibility to the perpetrators made women suitable targets of domestic violence. Lastly, shortage of police force and travel restrictions on formal and informal sources resulted in the absence of capable guardians. We conclude that changes in the routine activities of people during the COVID-19 lockdown provided more opportunities to the perpetrators of domestic violence.

     

Protecting parliamentary democracy in “plague” times: Accountability and democratic institutions during the pandemic

The spread of COVID-19 has not only placed strains on public health and the economy. It has presented challenges to the constitutional structure and the continuing requirement that parliaments within the Westminister system of government be able to operate. In such systems, the continued legitimacy of government action and accountability for those actions rests and must remain with the elected chamber of Parliament. At the same time, COVID-19 precludes normal gatherings of parliamentarians for proceedings. This article briefly explores the constitutional necessity for continued parliamentary scrutiny, the various forms such proceedings have taken to date and the application of parliamentary privilege to such proceedings.     

“Kill the chicken to scare the monkey”: Heavy penalties,excessive COVID-19 control mechanisms,and legal consciousness in China

This study analyses the legal consciousness of Chinese citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic when the authoritarian state invoked heavy penalties to deter noncompliance with its excessive COVID-19 restrictions. China used the approach of “killing the chicken to scare the monkey,” publicly punishing those who violated restrictions in order to deter noncompliance. This article explains why ordinary citizens supported this selective application of the law, as well as how the possibility of being the “chicken” contributed to their compliance (or noncompliance) with excessive COVID-19 restrictions. It suggests that the uncertainty and unpredictability of law in the authoritarian state bred fear, which then led to compliance, regardless of the lack of procedural fairness. People's dissatisfaction with the rules, however, led them to tolerate and even support the noncompliance of people they trusted.     

全球合作抗击新冠病毒蔓延的知识产权对策(上)

目前,全球正面临着新冠病毒肆虐引发的当代最大公共卫生危机的挑战。为了应对全球重大疫情,维护人类健康,保障人类福祉,各国政府、非政府机构、大学、科研院所、司法机构等近期就知识产权如何应对新冠病毒联手行动,纷纷出谋划策,制订并实施了一系列新举措,使知识产权成为抗击新冠病毒肺炎的一个有效法律工具。     

女性消费新变化

女性天生的细腻和对美好的追求,让她们即使身处新冠肺炎疫情之下,仍会想方设法,不断提升自己的幸福感。新冠肺炎疫情发生以来,她们的户外活动大幅减少,只能因地制宜、因时制宜地改变自己的消费结构和消费观念,很多消费场景"被迫"转移至线上,无形中培养出诸多新型消费习惯,在满足她们自己和家庭需要的同时,也让一些新型消费方式极大爆发。     

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the energy markets

Economic Change and Restructuring - This article aims to uncover the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the energy markets in terms of energy stock indexes, energy futures, ETFs, and implied...     

Rights redistribution and COVID-19 lockdown policy

European Journal of Law and Economics - What is the tenet upon which the public policy of lockdown by fiat experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic is based on? The work approaches this question...