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Domestic violence against women during COVID-19 pandemic restrictions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2021

R. Keynejad
R. Keynejad*
Affiliation:
Health Service And Population Research; Section For Womens Mental Health, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, London, United Kingdom

Abstract

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Introduction

In the United Kingdom(1) and internationally(2), help-seeking for domestic violence (DV) and domestic homicides have increased(3) during COVID-19 lockdown periods. Suspension and remote delivery of face-to-face clinical services, continuing healthcare and other support services limits opportunities for DV detection and disclosure.

Methods

This presentation will summarise changes in DV incidence and help-seeking during COVID-19, their impacts on health and wellbeing, and present guidance for clinicians assessing and supporting survivors.

Results

World Health Organisation recommendations to Listen, Inquire, Validate, Enhance safety and Support (’LIVES’) survivors of DV remain the cornerstone of first-line support (4). Urgently-issued guidelines on safeguarding(5) and responding to DV during COVID-19(6) make a range of recommendations for clinicians supporting people experiencing DV.

Conclusions

DV is an important social determinant of physical and mental health, with a range of potential fatal and non-fatal consequences. Despite the constraints of healthcare during a pandemic, attention to patients’ risk of DV and its consequences is a crucial part of bio-psycho-social assessment and management planning. References: (1) Kelly, Morgan. Coronavirus: Domestic abuse calls up 25% since lockdown, charity says. 2020. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52157620 (2) Graham-Harrison, et al. Lockdowns around the world bring rise in domestic violence. 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/mar/28/lockdowns-world-rise-domestic-violence (3) Roesch, et al. Violence against women during covid-19 pandemic restrictions. BMJ 2020;369. (4) WHO. Responding to intimate partner violence and sexual violence against women: WHO clinical and policy guidelines. 2013. https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/85240/9789241548595_eng.pdf;jsessionid=E19DCC3CDAB9BE390EE6F8360C6F1D7E?sequence=1 (5) RCGP. COVID-19 and Safeguarding. 2020. https://elearning.rcgp.org.uk/pluginfile.php/149180/mod_resource/content/2/COVID-19%20and%20Safeguarding%20%286%29.pdf (6) IRISi. Guidance for General Practice teams responding to domestic abuse during telephone and video consultations. 2020. https://irisi.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Guidance-for-General-Practice-Covid-19-FINAL.pdf

Disclosure

No significant relationships.

Keywords

Intimate partner violenceGender-based violencedomestic violenceCOVID-19
Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 64 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 29th European Congress of Psychiatry , April 2021 , pp. S53
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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