The Shadow Pandemic: A Qualitative Exploration of the Impacts of COVID-19 on Service Providers and Women Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence and Brain Injury

Abstract

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) affects up to 1 in 3 women over their lifetime and has intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although most injuries are to the head, face, and neck, the intersection of IPV and brain injury (BI) remains largely unrecognized. This article reports on unexplored COVID-19-related impacts on service providers and women survivors of IPV/BI. Objectives: To explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on survivors and service providers. Participants: Purposeful sampling through the team's national Knowledge-to-Practice (K2P) network and snowball sampling were used to recruit 24 participants across 4 categories: survivors, executive directors/managers of organizations serving survivors, direct service providers, and employer/union representatives. Design: This project used a qualitative, participatory approach using semistructured individual or group interviews. Interviews were conducted via videoconferencing, audio-recorded, and transcribed. Transcripts were thematically analyzed by the research team to identify themes. Findings: COVID-19 has increased rates and severity of IPV and barriers to services in terms of both provision and uptake. Three main themes emerged: (1) implications for women survivors of IPV/BI; (2) implications for service delivery and service providers supporting women survivors of IPV/BI; and (3) key priorities. Increased risk, complex challenges to mental health, and the impact on employment were discussed. Adaptability and flexibility of service delivery were identified as significant issues, and increased outreach and adaptation of technology-based services were noted as key priorities. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified IPV/BI, increased challenges for women survivors and service providers, and accentuated the continued lack of IPV/BI awareness. Recommendations for service delivery and uptake are discussed.

How did UK social distancing restrictions affect the lives of women experiencing intimate partner violence during the COVID-19 pandemic? A qualitative exploration of survivor views

“…Despite some shelters remaining open during the lockdown periods, many were unable to take on new clients [ 51 ] because they were already facing pre-existing challenges from funding cuts and the long-term impacts of austerity [ 30 ]. So, while public awareness campaigns and announcements for victims of abuse are crucially needed in a pandemic [ 52 ], these efforts in the future must be also part of a broader plan to address the barriers that already prevent victims from being able to leave, which are likely to be exacerbated during pandemics and emergencies. Services like refuges must be sufficiently funded and provisioned in the first place to ensure they are able to meet the needs of those who can “leave and seek refuge” from abuse.…”

Brain Injury and Intimate Partner Violence

“…Two studies addressed the impact on service users and providers of IPV during the COVID-19 pandemic-one study from the perspective of survivors, executive directors/managers, frontline workers, and employer/union representatives, 17 and the other from an emergency summit that involved a diverse set of stakeholders from a national IPV-TBI Knowledge to Practice Network. 18 These studies report increased rates and severity of IPV, increased risks and complex challenges to mental health for service providers, as well as impact on employment for survivors.…”

“At the Root of COVID Grew a More Complicated Situation”: A Qualitative Analysis of the Guatemalan Gender-Based Violence Prevention and Response System during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…COVID-19-related movement restrictions and adverse socioeconomic impacts have exacerbated the “shadow pandemic” of gender-based violence (GBV) [ 1 , 2 ]. Numerous publications have underscored how the pandemic has contributed to substantially increased incidence and severity of GBV globally [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ], mimicking patterns observed during previous infectious disease epidemics, such as Zika and Ebola [ 9 , 10 , 11 ]. These increased experiences of violence can largely be attributed to existing gender-insensitive policymaking systems that do not address structural and environmental risk factors for violence [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ].…”

“…The GBV prevention and response system is the medium through which GBV survivors and service providers interact to facilitate the reporting of violence and/or access to care. Scholarship has detailed how isolation in the home, unemployment, and movement restrictions have magnified GBV risk [ 1 , 14 , 15 , 16 ], as well as highlighted the resource and burnout challenges faced by service providers trying to address this increased vulnerability to violence [ 5 , 17 , 18 ]. Such literature has advanced the understanding of how and why the COVID-19 pandemic has magnified individual-level risk of violence and/or reduced the capacity of service providers to meet this increased vulnerability.…”