The Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic and Social Determinants of Health on the Prevalence of Intimate Partner Violence. A Systematic Review

Abstract

Background: The pandemic has increased the rates of violent behavior towards women by their partners worldwide. Increased time spent living with the abusive partner, working at home and limited social contact combined with socioeconomic characteristics contributed to the increase in this type of violence. Objective: To investigate the impact of pandemic COVID-19 and social determinants of health (SDOH) on the intimate partner violence (IPV) experienced by women from their partners. Methods: A systematic review was conducted to investigate the impact of COVID-19 and social determinants of health on violence experienced by women from their partner(s) as a consequence of incarceration. The Pubmed and Scopus databases were searched during December 2022, using the keywords “intimate partner violence”, “women”, “COVID-19”, “socioeconomic factors”, “social determinants of health”. Results: Of the 917 studies initially retrieved, 38 studies found an increased prevalence of women’s reported violence by their partners, 10 found a low prevalence, and 9 found no difference in prevalence before and during restraint. The most common forms of violence were psychological, physical and sexual. In 30 studies, social determinants such as socioeconomic level, education and living conditions were found to be associated with the prevalence of violence. Conclusion: There was an increase in violence against women during quarantine which was associated with the effect of social determinants. However, due to research limitations of the studies, additional research is needed to draw firm conclusions that can be generalized to the population.