Staying Safe During COVID-19: How a Pandemic Can Escalate Risk for Intimate Partner Violence and What Can Be Done to Provide Individuals With Resources and Support

Date of Review: March, 2021

Jarnecke, A. M., & Flanagan, J. C. (2020). Staying safe during COVID-19: How a pandemic can escalate risk for intimate partner violence and what can be done to provide individuals with resources and support. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 12(S1), S202-S204. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/tra0000688

The authors Amber Jarnecke and Julianne Flanagan provide suggestions for how to make IPV and healthy relationship resources accessible to at risk individuals when policies designed to reduce covid-19 transmission inadvertently reduce access to help. Their ideas include leveraging social media platforms, technology, workplaces, and communities. The authors also advocate for policies that developing novel opportunities for financial independence for women, sexual and gender minority individuals, and people of color that may facilitate separation from partners and reduce overall IPV incidence. —Erin Goss, MD