Understanding the Impact of COVID-19 on Domestic Violence
“In some places, there is already evidence of domestic violence related to both the shelter-in-place restrictions and to fears of shared illness and unavailable healthcare,” says Emily Rothman, a School of Public Health professor of community health sciences. Photo courtesy of iStock/tommaso79
Understanding the Impact of COVID-19 on Domestic Violence
SPH’s Emily Rothman is launching a survey that hopes to shed light on the pandemic’s effects on abuse
Before the novel coronavirus emerged, Emily Rothman, a School of Public Health professor of community health sciences and a leading researcher of intimate partner violence, was preparing a state-of-the-art survey on cyberstalking and online dating violence, funded by the US Office of Violence Against Women.
But after the COVID-19 pandemic struck the United States and began keeping much of the country at home—potentially trapping people with their abusers—Rothman and her co–primary investigator on the project, Elizabeth Mumford of NORC at the University of Chicago, realized they needed to make an adjustment. “We said, ‘If we’re doing a nationally representative survey, we should add a few questions about COVID-19 and people’s domestic violence experiences, both victimization and perpetration,’” Rothman says.
The survey, expanded with 10 new questions about experiences specific to the COVID-19 period, will go out to 1,200 people from one of NORC’s standing panels of internet survey respondents in June.
“If it takes 18 months to develop a vaccine that works well, this is a situation that we’re living with for the next unknown period,” says Rothman. “Having this information about what happens to people inside their homes in terms of partner violence—and partner violence help-seeking—could also be really valuable for planning and policies in the future, should we ever go through another emergency situation that requires stay-at-home policies.”
Rothman talked with BU Today about adjusting her research to address the pandemic, how COVID-19 could be affecting domestic violence, and what policies could be making it worse.
Q&A
Emily Rothman
BU Today: Is COVID-19 increasing domestic violence in the United States?
Emily Rothman: A report from the UN says that domestic violence is worse globally because of this pandemic. Nationally, I have been talking to my colleagues, researchers, and practitioners, and I’ve heard a mix. In some places, there is already evidence of domestic violence related to both the shelter-in-place restrictions and to fears of shared illness and unavailable healthcare. In other places, reports—meaning calls to law enforcement or hotlines and shelters—are going down, which is hard to interpret. Does that mean that there’s less of a problem, or does it mean that in some places people just don’t want to go into shelter, and can’t escape their abuser even enough to call a hotline? It’s hard to interpret those data, but anecdotally, the sense is that there is real potential for it to be a lot worse right now.
BU Today: How would this pandemic worsen domestic violence?
Emily Rothman: Number one, the super simple reason is what we call ‘time to exposure,’ which means that if you are spending more hours in the day with a potentially aggressive person, the odds of an aggressive incident go up, simply because you’re spending more time together.
A second reason is that we know that unemployment and resulting financial strain are related to aggression in intimate partner violence–aggressive people, so there are economic stressors from COVID-19 that can make intimate partner violence worse.
It’s also true that mental health and substance use are both related to intimate partner violence, and if those factors are getting worse, then that could increase intimate partner violence.
And in general, as people are experiencing more stress and experiencing more conflict at home, there’s more of a chance that a conflict can become aggressive or lethal.
BU Today: What about the original focus of your survey? How might COVID-19 affect online abuse?
Emily Rothman: In terms of cyberstalking and online aggressive behavior, what we call technology-facilitated abuse, if people are home and spending more time on the internet, they may be experiencing more instances of harassment, stalking, or aggression from a partner who is either home with them or outside of their house.
My role is about people’s safety at home or online.
That is also important, even if it’s not about the direct threat of being infected with the coronavirus.
BU Today: What policies could help—or potentially make the risks worse?
Emily Rothman: In some states, gun shops have been designated as essential businesses that do not need to close. We know that the availability of firearms makes intimate partner violence more severe and makes fatal intimate partner violence all the more likely. So, having these policies that have not put guns out of reach while people are being asked or required to stay at home with potentially abusive partners—that causes a whole lot of concern.
BU Today: How are domestic violence shelters handling COVID-19?
Emily Rothman: Domestic violence shelters across the nation are handling COVID-19 differently based on where they are and what the local conditions and resources are. I know of one shelter in New England that is not taking in new residents right now because of COVID-19. Other shelters have other policies, including trying to send symptomatic people to motels or hotels, where they are more isolated.
But there isn’t one consistent guideline or rule across the nation. To some extent, there may be some confusion on the part of the domestic violence shelters about whether it is OK for them to ask people seeking shelter questions about fever and cough, because the federal government has a standing rule that domestic violence shelters cannot discriminate based on medical conditions, which fits with the Americans with Disabilities Act—and in normal times makes sense.
But domestic violence shelters could be, and perhaps should be, asking prospective clients about fever, cough, and other symptoms in order to figure out how to house people safely, and I do wonder if some shelters are looking for guidance on how to do that. I’ve been talking with colleagues and physicians who work with homeless populations to see if there are lessons learned there that we can carry over.
BU Today: What else has struck you about the COVID-19 pandemic as someone who researches intimate partner violence?
Emily Rothman: In the first week or two of all this happening, I personally, as a public health researcher, felt pointless and useless. I thought, ‘I can’t do anything useful, because it’s all about infectious disease epidemiology. Who wants to talk about pornography right now?’ It took a couple of weeks for me to realize that there are roles for all of us who work in public health and care about public health, and we need to remember what our roles are. My role is about people’s safety at home or online.
That is also important, even if it’s not about the direct threat of being infected with the coronavirus.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, seeking resources or information, questioning unhealthy aspects of your relationship, or concerned about a friend or loved one, the National Domestic Violence Hotline has guidance for survivors during the COVID-19 pandemic, and advocates available 24/7 at 1-800-799-7233 and through live chat for private, confidential support. Online resources for victims can be found at www.thehotline.org, www.loveisrespect.org, and www.rainn.org.
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