Safeguarding Victims of Domestic Abuse during Covid-19: Challenges and Opportunities

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Emerging evidence from China, Italy, France and the UK indicates that domestic abuse (DA) rates have increased by up to 30% during Covid-19 (WHO 2020). Social distancing during Covid-19 is thought to increase the risk of DA whilst accessing support is more difficult. Increased financial pressures, increased proximity of family members living in the same household, isolation, the increased burden of domestic labour and caring responsibilities for women are all potentially risk factors for increased rates of DA. Victims of DA have less opportunity to disclose abuse to professionals or to seek support from family and friends (Women's Aid, 2020). In the UK, domestic homicides have risen by 50% since the UK lockdown with a surge in calls to a national domestic abuse helpline (The Guardian 2020). A survey of survivors during lockdown showed that 67% of survivors said that domestic abuse had got worse in lockdown (Women's Aid, 2020). Pre-Covid-19, accessing DA support was already compromised by austerity policies affecting the DA NGO sector and other related services such as mental health services and adults and children's social care (Sanders-McDonagh, 2016). These challenges are likely to be exacerbated during lockdown (Safe Lives, 2020), as lockdown eases and currently during the second wave of Covid-19. Accessing DA support is likely to be aggravated for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) women and their children (Imkaan, 2020), particularly as the Covid-19 burden is higher in BAME communities (Khunti et al, 2020). No recourse to public funds is a long-standing barrier for BAME women accessing DA support. Safeguarding is a key process for protecting women and their children from further abuse.The study will investigate:1. How have DA safeguarding interventions and processes in different agencies changed due to Covid-19, at strategic and operational levels? 2. What is the effect of Covid-19 on the identification of DA survivors and their children and on the support, protection and safeguarding they have received during lockdown? 3. What ongoing lessons are there for multi-agency arrangements during a pandemic to enable effective identification, recording and response to safeguard DA victims from abuse, especially from BAME groups?To investigate our research questions, the study is organised into two work packages.Work Package 1 (WP1)- National Safeguarding Context (England): An England-wide survey will be distributed online to safeguarding leads based in local authorities, health, policing, MARAC chairs and DA coordinators. It will establish how safeguarding practice is being conducted during Covid-19 and how this may differ from previous safeguarding procedures and practice. It will focus specifically on the identification and response to DA, examples of good practice, challenges, multi-agency relationships, and innovations during lockdown at a national level and identification of good practices to be continued post-Covid-19. Telephone interviews will be conducted with 20-25 safeguarding leads and DA coordinators to gain more in-depth data about the context, and perceived impact of changes on safeguarding, particularly for BAME women and children. Work Package 2: Two case study areas (Greater Manchester and Lancashire) have been selected to generate in-depth knowledge of safeguarding on the ground. 20 interviews will be conducted with DA NGO providers to identify challenges and good practice; 20 interviews with survivors of DA to understand help-seeking during Covid-19 and analysis of police databases pre and during Covid-19 to identify safeguarding processes. Our deliverables include: briefing reports and infographics; interactive project website; final conference; academic papers and conference presentations; webinars and round table discussions to support and develop practitioners and aid policy development for managing domestic abuse in pandemics and beyond.