On the Front Lines of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Occupational Experiences of the Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Assault Workforce

Abstract

In the face of increasing risk for intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual assault during the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an urgent need to understand the experiences of the workforce providing support to survivors, as well as the evolving service delivery methods, shifting safety planning approaches, and occupational stress of frontline workers. We addressed this gap by conducting an online survey of members of IPV and sexual assault workforce using a broad, web-based recruitment strategy. In total, 352 staff from 24 states participated. We collaborated with practitioner networks and anti-violence coalitions to develop the brief survey, which included questions about work and health, safety planning, and stress. We used chi-square, t-test, and ANOVA analysis techniques to analyze differences within position and demographic variables. For qualitative data, we used thematic analysis to analyze responses from four open-ended questions. The sample was majority female-identified (93.7%) and essential workers in dual IPV and sexual assault programs (80.7%). Findings demonstrated that since the pandemic began, IPV and sexual assault staff are experiencing more personal and professional stressors, perceive a decrease in client safety, and lack resources needed to help survivors and themselves. Common problems included a lack of food or supplies at home and work and housing and financial support for survivors. There was a 51% increase in the use of video conference for work, which contributed to workforce strain. Reductions in overall service capacity and a shift to remote service provision have implications for both survivors and staff. These findings suggest a critical need for additional training, infrastructure, and support for the IPV and sexual assault workforce. There is an urgent need to classify IPV and sexual assault staff as first responders and address the occupational stress associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Coping with intimate partner violence and the COVID-19 lockdown: The perspectives of service professionals in Spain

“…Problems of coordination, workload, scarcity of resources, lack of training and limited flexibility of the services mentioned by the professionals coincide with what has been reported in other contexts [ 11 ] and at other times during the months of COVID-19 confinement [ 27 – 32 ]. The tension produced by the social and health emergency, above all during the first months, has increased the tension of professionals due to the limitations in available resources was added to the increased demands for care, access barriers for women due to the measures in palace and the need to adopt protection measures for COVID-19 [ 33 , 34 ].…”

“…Among petitions received by the professionals, those related to basic needs are worth highlighting. These included paying the bills, the need for food or access to a secure living space, which have also been reported in other countries [ 5 , 11 , 13 , 22 ]. The pandemic has generated a generalized socioeconomic crisis that, in the case of women who experience IPV, has compromised their possibilities to break with a relationship of violence.…”

“…Our knowledge of the experience of IPV service providers during this period is still very limited. However, their perspectives have the potential to shed light on available information on the magnitude and intensity of cases of IPV that were not declared, the social impact of the pandemic, and above all, the different difficulties they have faced in responding to women’s needs during this period [ 11 – 13 ].…”

Did Juvenile Domestic Violence Offending Change During COVID-19?

“…2.And this is especially likely to be the case as most domestic violence that comes to the attention of the justice system tends to be physical in nature. What all of these children may have seen (via exposure to violence) or been subject to (via emotional violence) is something that will be incredibly difficult to capture without in-depth interviews with domestic violence survivors (see Wood et al, 2021). …”

Advocate and Survivor Perspectives on the Role of Technology in Help Seeking and Services with Emerging Adults in Higher Education

“…Campus based survivors are clearly open to engaging in advocacy services through technology-both for services coordination and for service delivery. While there was little use of video-conferencing within the five programs studied here, recent work has identified a dramatic increase in video-conferencing being in IPV and SV advocacy after the onset of COVID-19 (Wood et al, 2020c). Programs could consider using the high quality, secure, encrypted videoconferencing platforms that many IHEs have invested in for online education and to support teleworking in order to expand the range of services available to survivors.…”