"Boiling Water but There's No Pop-Off Valve": Health Care Provider Perceptions of the Effects of COVID-19 on Intimate Partner Violence.

This study sought to understand the effects of COVID-19, including movement-related restrictions such as shelter-in-place, quarantine, and isolation orders, on intimate partner violence (IPV) from the perspective of health care providers (HCPs) working at a public hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. From November 2020 to May 2021, we conducted 12 interviews. Three themes emerged: (1) HCPs perceived that COVID-19 movement-related restrictions likely exacerbated IPV; (2) HCPs encountered many practice-oriented and community barriers in IPV care provision during COVID-19; and (3) HCPs suggested process and partnership improvements for IPV response. These findings can inform future pandemic preparedness including improved communication, improved IPV screening and follow-up, and strengthened hospital-community partnerships.

Domestic Violence in Atlanta, Georgia Before and During COVID-19.

Domestic violence is known to be one of the most prevalent forms of gender-based violence in emergency contexts and anecdotal data during the COVID-19 pandemic suggest that related restrictions on movement may exacerbate such violence. As such, the purpose of this study was to measure differences in domestic violence incident reports from police data in Atlanta, Georgia, before and during COVID-19. Thirty weeks of crime data were collected from the Atlanta Police Department (APD) in an effort to compare Part I offense trends 2018-2020. Compared with weeks 1-31 of 2018 and 2019, there was a growth in Part I domestic crimes during 2020 as reported to the APD. In addition, trendlines show that 2020 domestic crimes were occurring at a relatively similar pace as the counts observed in previous years leading up to the pandemic. A spike in domestic crimes was recorded after city and statewide shelter-in-place orders. The rise of cumulative counts of domestic crimes during the COVID-19 period of 2020 compared with the previous 2 years suggests increased occurrence of domestic violence. The co-occurring pandemics of COVID-19 and domestic violence come amidst a period of racial justice reckoning in the United States; both have a disproportionate impact on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. As the country grapples with how to deal with health and safety concerns related to the pandemic, and the unacceptable harms being perpetrated by police, a public health approach is strongly warranted to address both universal health care and violence prevention.