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Intimate Partner Violence During COVID-19 Restrictions: A Study of 30 Countries From the I-SHARE Consortium

Campbell L 1 , Tan RKJ 2 , Uhlich M 3 , Francis JM 4 , Mark K 5 , Miall N 6 Show all authors , Eleuteri S 7 , Gabster A 8 , Shamu S 9 , Plášilová L 10 , Kemigisha E 11 , Olumide A 12 , Kosana P 13 , Hurtado-Murillo F 14 , Larsson EC 15 , Cleeve A 15 , Calvo González S 16 , Perrotta G 17 , Fernández Albamonte V 17 , Blanco L 17 , Schröder J 18 , Adebayo A 19 , Hendriks J 20 , Saltis H 20 , Marks M 6 , Wu D 6 , Morroni C 21 , Esho T 22 , Briken P 18 , Hlatshwako TG 13 , Ryan R 23 , Farid NDN 24 , Gomez Bravo R 25 , Van de Velde S 1 , Tucker JD 6 , the ISHARE research consortium

Affiliations 

  • 1 Center for Population, Family, and Health, University of Antwerp, Belgium
  • 2 Dermatology Hospital of Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
  • 3 Department of Psychology, University of Basel, Switzerland
  • 4 Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
  • 5 Institute for Sexual and Gender Health, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN, USA
  • 6 Clinical Research Department, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
  • 7 Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
  • 8 Department of Genomics and Proteomics, Gorgas Memorial Institute for Health Studies, Panama City, Panama
  • 9 Health Systems Strengthening Division, Foundation for Professional Development, Pretoria, South Africa
  • 10 Department of Psychology and Life Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
  • 11 Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda
  • 12 Institute of Child Health, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan and University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria
  • 13 Institute of Global Health and Infectious Diseases, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
  • 14 Center for Sexual and Reproductive Health, University Hospital Doctor Peset, Valencia, Spain
  • 15 Karolinska Institutet, Department of Global Health and Department of Women's and Children's Health, Stockholm, Sweden
  • 16 Department of Education Sciences, University of Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain
  • 17 Faculty of Psychology, University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
  • 18 Institute for Sex Research, Sexual Medicine and Forensic Psychiatry, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
  • 19 Institute of Child Health, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
  • 20 Collaboration for Evidence, Research and Impact in Public Health, School of Population Health, Curtin University, Perth, Australia
  • 21 Centre for Reproductive Health, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
  • 22 Amref International University, Nairobi, Kenya
  • 23 Botswana Sexual and Reproductive Health Initiative, Botswana Harvard AIDS Institute Partnership, Gaborone, Botswana
  • 24 Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 25 Institute for Health and Behaviour, Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences, University of Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
J Interpers Violence, 2023 Jun;38(11-12):7115-7142.
PMID: 36703528 DOI: 10.1177/08862605221141865

Abstract

Intimate partner violence (IPV) causes substantial physical and psychological trauma. Restrictions introduced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including lockdowns and movement restrictions, may exacerbate IPV risk and reduce access to IPV support services. This cross-sectional study examines IPV during COVID-19 restrictions in 30 countries from the International Sexual HeAlth and REproductive Health (I-SHARE) study conducted from July 20th, 2020, to February, 15th, 2021. IPV was a primary outcome measure adapted from a World Health Organization multicountry survey. Mixed-effects modeling was used to determine IPV correlates among participants stratified by cohabitation status. The sample included 23,067 participants from 30 countries. A total of 1,070/15,336 (7.0%) participants stated that they experienced IPV during COVID-19 restrictions. A total of 1,486/15,336 (9.2%) participants stated that they had experienced either physical or sexual partner violence before the restrictions, which then decreased to 1,070 (7.0%) after the restrictions. In general, identifying as a sexual minority and experiencing greater economic vulnerability were associated with higher odds of experiencing IPV during COVID-19 restrictions, which were accentuated among participants who were living with their partners. Greater stringency of COVID-19 restrictions and living in urban or semi-urban areas were associated with lower odds of experiencing IPV in some settings. The I-SHARE data suggest a substantial burden of IPV during COVID-19 restrictions. However, the restrictions were correlated with reduced IPV in some settings. There is a need for investing in specific support systems for survivors of IPV during the implementation of restrictions designed to contain infectious disease outbreaks.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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