Mitigating the increased risk of domestic abuse among people with mental illness: challenges and opportunities of the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

SUMMARY The rise in domestic violence and abuse has been dubbed a ‘pandemic within a pandemic’. Individuals known to mental health services are particularly vulnerable. Yet despite challenges to mitigating domestic violence and abuse in this group, the COVID-19 pandemic has provided opportunities to develop new interventions to support those affected.

Responding to domestic abuse in an NHS trust

“…Domestic abuse is a major public health issue; the health impacts are wide-ranging and profound and a significant cause of avoidable morbidity and mortality (World Health Organization 2013; National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) 2016). In an article in this journal, Wilson considers the opportunities for learning from innovation in healthcare responses to domestic abuse during the COVID-19 pandemic (Wilson 2022). As she describes, those accessing mental health services are known to be disproportionately affected, in terms of both past experiences of harm and further victimisation (Khalifeh 2015).…”