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

Linda Campbell; Rayner K J Tan; Maximiliane Uhlich; Joel M Francis; Kristen Mark; Naomi Miall; Stefano Eleuteri; Amanda Gabster; Simukai Shamu; Leona Plášilová; Elizabeth Kemigisha; Adesola Olumide; Priya Kosana; Felipe Hurtado-Murillo; Elin C Larsson; Amanda Cleeve; Soraya Calvo González; Gabriela Perrotta; Victoria Fernández Albamonte; Lucía Blanco; Johanna Schröder; Adedamola Adebayo; Jacqueline Hendriks; Hanna Saltis; Michael Marks; Dan Wu; Chelsea Morroni; Tammary Esho; Peer Briken; Takhona Grace Hlatshwako; Rebecca Ryan; Nik Daliana Nik Farid; Raquel Gomez Bravo; Sarah Van de Velde; Joseph D Tucker; the ISHARE research consortium

doi:10.1177/08862605221141865

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

J Interpers Violence. 2023 Jun;38(11-12):7115-7142. doi: 10.1177/08862605221141865. Epub 2023 Jan 26.

Authors

Linda Campbell^{1

2}, Rayner K J Tan^{3

4

5}, Maximiliane Uhlich⁶, Joel M Francis⁷, Kristen Mark⁸, Naomi Miall⁹, Stefano Eleuteri¹⁰, Amanda Gabster^{11

12

13}, Simukai Shamu^{14

15}, Leona Plášilová^{16

17}, Elizabeth Kemigisha¹⁸, Adesola Olumide¹⁹, Priya Kosana²⁰, Felipe Hurtado-Murillo²¹, Elin C Larsson²², Amanda Cleeve^{22

23}, Soraya Calvo González²⁴, Gabriela Perrotta²⁵, Victoria Fernández Albamonte²⁵, Lucía Blanco²⁵, Johanna Schröder²⁶, Adedamola Adebayo²⁷, Jacqueline Hendriks²⁸, Hanna Saltis²⁸, Michael Marks^{9

29

30}, Dan Wu⁹, Chelsea Morroni^{31

32}, Tammary Esho³³, Peer Briken²⁶, Takhona Grace Hlatshwako²⁰, Rebecca Ryan³², Nik Daliana Nik Farid³⁴, Raquel Gomez Bravo³⁵, Sarah Van de Velde¹, Joseph D Tucker^{9

20}; the ISHARE research consortium

Affiliations

¹ Center for Population, Family, and Health, University of Antwerp, Belgium.
² Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Ghent, Belgium.
³ Dermatology Hospital of Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
⁴ University of North Carolina Project, Guangzhou, China.
⁵ Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
⁶ Department of Psychology, University of Basel, Switzerland.
⁷ Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
⁸ Institute for Sexual and Gender Health, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
⁹ Clinical Research Department, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
¹⁰ Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
¹¹ Department of Genomics and Proteomics, Gorgas Memorial Institute for Health Studies, Panama City, Panama.
¹² National Research System, National Secretariat of Science, Technology and Innovation, Panama City, Panama.
¹³ Center of Population Sciences for Health Equity, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA.
¹⁴ Health Systems Strengthening Division, Foundation for Professional Development, Pretoria, South Africa.
¹⁵ School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
¹⁶ Department of Psychology and Life Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.
¹⁷ Laboratory of Evolutionary Sexology and Psychopathology, National Institute of Mental Health, Klecany, Czech Republic.
¹⁸ Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda.
¹⁹ Institute of Child Health, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan and University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria.
²⁰ Institute of Global Health and Infectious Diseases, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
²¹ Center for Sexual and Reproductive Health, University Hospital Doctor Peset, Valencia, Spain.
²² Karolinska Institutet, Department of Global Health and Department of Women's and Children's Health, Stockholm, Sweden.
²³ South General Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
²⁴ Department of Education Sciences, University of Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain.
²⁵ Faculty of Psychology, University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
²⁶ Institute for Sex Research, Sexual Medicine and Forensic Psychiatry, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
²⁷ Institute of Child Health, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
²⁸ Collaboration for Evidence, Research and Impact in Public Health, School of Population Health, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.
²⁹ Hospital for Tropical Diseases, University College London Hospital, London, UK.
³⁰ Division of Infection and Immunity, University College London, London, UK.
³¹ Centre for Reproductive Health, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
³² Botswana Sexual and Reproductive Health Initiative, Botswana Harvard AIDS Institute Partnership, Gaborone, Botswana.
³³ Amref International University, Nairobi, Kenya.
³⁴ Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
³⁵ Institute for Health and Behaviour, Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences, University of Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg.

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.

Keywords: COVID-19; IPV; Lockdown; global; physical violence; sexual assault; sexual coercion; sexual violence; social science.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

COVID-19* / epidemiology
COVID-19* / prevention & control
Communicable Disease Control
Cross-Sectional Studies
Humans
Intimate Partner Violence* / psychology
Pandemics
Reproductive Health
Risk Factors
Sexual Health*
Sexual Partners / psychology

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding