Abusers indoors and coronavirus outside: an examination of public discourse about COVID-19 and family violence on Twitter using machine learning

Abstract

Purpose: This brief report aims to provide the first large-scale analysis of public discourse regarding family violence and the COVID-19 pandemic on Twitter. Method: We analyzed 301,606 Tweets related to family violence and COVID-19 from April 12 to July 16, 2020, for this study. We used the machine learning approach, Latent Dirichlet Allocation, and identified salient themes, topics, and representative Twitter examples. Results: We extracted nine themes on family violence and COVID-19 pandemic, including (1) the Impact of COVID-19 on family violence (e.g., rising rates, hotline calls increased, murder & homicide); (2) the types (e.g., child abuse, domestic violence, sexual violence) and (3) forms of family violence (e.g., physical aggression, coercive control); (4) risk factors of family violence (e.g., alcohol abuse, financial constraints, gun, quarantine); (5) victims of family violence (e.g., LGBTQ, women, and women of color, children); (6) social services of family violence (e.g., hotlines, social workers, confidential services, shelters, funding); (7) law enforcement response (e.g., 911 calls, police arrest, protective orders, abuse reports); (8) Social movement/ awareness (e.g., support victims, raise awareness); and (9) domestic violence-related news (e.g., Tara Reade, Melissa Derosa). Conclusions: The COVID-19 has an impact on family violence. This report overcomes the limitation of existing scholarship that lacks data for consequences of COVID-19 on family violence. We contribute to the understanding of family violence during the pandemic by providing surveillance in Tweets, which is essential to identify potentially effective policy programs in offering targeted support for victims and survivors and preparing for the next wave.

#DomesticViolence During the COVID-19 Global Pandemic: An Analysis of Public Commentary via Twitter

“…A limited number of studies to date have specifically examined discussion of domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic using data gleaned from Twitter. 47 One study focused on assessing children's exposure to violence during the COVID-19 pandemic. 49 Research by Al-Rawi et al 48 highlighted gender differences in how individuals used Twitter during COVID-19 to discuss risk of violence as well as other harms.…”

“…Examining the Twitter commentary relating to IPV during the COVID-19 is a useful strategy for gaining a conceptual understanding of the context of IPV during this time in history. Notably, prior analyses by Xue et al 46 , 47 emphasize Twitter users’ concerns regarding the ways in which the global COVID-19 pandemic increased risk for family violence (including IPV, child abuse, and elder abuse), as well as rates of homicide, suicide, and mental health concerns. Additionally, Al-Rawi et al 48 found significant differences in public discourse around COVID-19 on Twitter based on gender.…”

Australian Strategic Partnerships in Remote Education

“…Indeed, increased rates of poverty (Van Lancker & Parolin, 2020) and child abuse (Baron et al, 2020;Griffith, 2020) have already been reported during the pandemic. Domestic abuse and family violence have also been reported as increasing dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic (Bradbury -Jones & Isham, 2020;Campbell, 2020;Humphreys et al, 2020;Mazza et al, 2020;Piquero et al 2020;Usher et al, 2020;Xue et al, 2020). All of these issues are likely to add additional burden to already wrought health systems, but also have the potential to impact on social and educational engagement, health, and overall wellbeing (Rothstein & Olympia, 2020).…”

Predictors of family violence in North Carolina following initial COVID-19 stay-at-home orders

“…The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has raised widespread concern about children's exposure to family violence ( Cappa & Jijon, 2021 ). Following initial lockdowns to address COVID-19, significant increases in domestic violence calls were observed ( Leslie & Wilson, 2020 ; Nix & Richards, 2021 ; Xue et al, 2020 ). Although there was a decrease in child abuse calls ( Department of Health and Human Services, 2018 ; Jonson-Reid et al, 2020 ), this may be due to a lack of visibility rather than an absence of maltreatment.…”

“…In sum, the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to increase family violence through its impact on situational variables associated with family violence and these increases are more likely to occur in families already at risk for violence (i.e., families with a prior history of violence, caregivers who experience increased emotion reactivity). Currently, there is a lack of research on predictors of family violence in the COVID-19 pandemic ( Xue et al, 2020 ). Past public health crises that similarly impacted daily functioning have been linked to spikes in spousal and child abuse that decrease over time ( Davidson & McFarlane, 2006 ; Santos, 2020 ).…”