COVID-19: Outreach to Domestic Abuse Victims in Times of Quarantine

警方的报告表明，由于这一流行病，家庭暴力有所增加，但令人关切的是，所报告的家庭暴力事件的比例可能有所下降。当受害者和施虐者一起被隔离时，报警可能会危及受害者的安全。结果，更多的受害者越来越孤立，面临风险。那么，受害者如何获得帮助呢？当局如何让他们知道有哪些选择？直接发短信可能是危险的，因为来自警察的短信可能会激怒一个控制狂。我们建议开展有针对性的社交媒体活动，让潜在的高风险受害者了解无声解决方案，这是联系警方的更安全的选择。我们的方法充分利用了社交媒体的广泛使用，这也比直接发送消息带来的风险更小。短信是主动发送的，而社交媒体广告是被动接收的。这项研究将确定潜在的高风险受害者，并随机选择其中一半进行媒体宣传。对数据处理调用的分析将显示该方法是否有效。如果是这样，它将提供一种接触孤立的DA受害者的方法，并为他们提供获得帮助的选择，这在隔离期间和之后都将是有价值的。

Police reports suggest that domestic abuse (DA) has risen as a result of the pandemic, yet there is concern that the share of DA incidents reported may have fallen. When a victim and abuser are quarantined together, calling the police may jeopardize the victim's safety. As a result, greater numbers of victims are increasingly isolated and at risk.So how can victims get help? How can authorities let them know what options are available? Direct messaging can be dangerous, since texts from the police may provoke a controlling abuser.We propose a targeted social media campaign to inform potential high-risk victims about the Silent Solution, a safer option for contacting police. Our approach leverages the wide use of social media, which also poses less risk than direct messaging. Whereas text messages are actively sent, social media adverts are passively received.The study will identify potential high-risk victims and randomly select half for the media campaign. Analysis of DA calls will show whether the approach is effective. If so, it will provide an approach for reaching isolated DA victims, and for giving them options to get help, that will be of value both during quarantine and beyond.