
DV and COVID Brief
How a global pandemic impacted domestic violence systems and services in the U.S.
Annaliese Peña, Lauren C. Camphausen, Ruth Fleury-Steiner, Susan L. Miller, Jennifer A. Horney
In the past decade, the U.S. has experienced an average of 138 declared disasters every year. In 2020 alone, disaster relief cost over $29.7 billion.1
Disasters trigger a sense of helplessness, which contributes to an escalation of abuse as a result of perpetrators seeking increased control over families and partners.3
The U.S. reports an increase in DV as high as 65% during and 1-2 years post-disaster.3
Conversely, DV reports to the police are known to decrease significantly, as high as 33%, in the presence of disasters.3
In 2020, over 75,000 DV survivors were being supported daily, with 11,000 requests for assistance going unmet every day. Over half of those unmet requests were for emergency shelter.3
Disasters are unexpected events that disrupt “normal” conditions and exceed the capacity of an affected community to respond. Disasters can include hurricanes, high-magnitude earthquakes, forest fires, tornados, and, of course, the COVID-19 pandemic. Although they are frequently referred to as natural disasters, disasters are not natural. They are actually the result of how communities are structured and how resources are allocated. Disasters cost the U.S. billions in response and recovery, but there are other ways that disasters impact communities that cannot be so easily repaired.2
Although decades of research have demonstrated that domestic violence increases with disasters, our disaster response systems still do not have access to enough adaptive capacity to respond. Adaptive capacity refers to practical tools – like flexible funding or excess shelter capacity – systems need to cope with the changes and uncertainties that happen during disasters. Adaptive capacity is a key part of building system resilience. Without adaptive capacity, domestic violence service providers may not be able to meet the need for support and shelter in the wake of crises. It is clear that when a disaster occurs, the needs of domestic violence victims and survivors far exceed the community’s capacity to respond.2
Put simply, the degree of system preparedness to counter the increased risk of f domestic violence during disasters is inadequate. An increased sense of helplessness and tension during disasters can increase negative behavior in abuses, placing the people around them in danger with limited resources for sanctuary as a result of the physical impacts of the disaster.3 This problem was particularly severe during the COVID-19 pandemic when shelter-in-place orders and other public health control measures like physical distancing required survivors to quarantine with their abusers without means of escape. Additionally, these measures significantly reduced the availability of shelter space with social distancing protocols cutting shelter capacity to half of what it was prior to the pandemic.4
As disasters become more frequent and severe, it is increasingly important to consider the role of prevention, policy-making, and advocacy in counteracting the impacts of domestic violence during disasters. While disasters cannot always be prevented, we can focus on building the resilience of multiple social services systems to mitigate the increased risk of violence post-disaster. For example, increasing capacity among policymakers, public health leaders, emergency managers, and other government officials to understand the risk factors associated with disasters that may increase violence and how disaster response measures can exacerbate risk to inform policy and improve training to build system resiliency during disasters and in the inter-disaster period.
Possible Support and Solutions
- Recognize domestic violence service providers as “first responders.” This could improve access to hazard pay and public health interventions (masks, vaccines, and other personal protective equipment) and allow for travel during times of emergency or lockdown.
- Allocate more resources to expanding shelter capabilities through physical expansion or additional funding for hotel stays to be adequately prepared to meet day-to-day needs and have surge capacity to meet needs during a disaster.
- Train law enforcement and emergency management on responding to domestic violence during disasters and providing emergent support. Consider providing training and education to other sectors like staff at food pantries and other “essential” workers who may interact with victims during a disaster response or recovery.
Citations
- USAFacts. (2023, March 30). US Disasters & Emergency Relief Statistics and Data: government spending, disaster declarations, and more. USAFacts. https://usafacts.org/topics/disasters/
- NNEDV 15th Annual DV Counts Report. National Network to End Domestic Violence. (2020). https://nnedv.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/15th-Annual- DV-Counts-Report-Full-Report.pdf
- Sety, M., James, K., & Breckenridge, J. (2014). Understanding the Risk of Domestic Violence during and post Natural Disasters: literature review. In Humanitarian solutions in the 21st century (pp. 99–111). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05882-5_5
- Measuring the Shadow Pandemic: Violence Against Women During COVID-19. (2021). UN Women. https://doi.org/10.18356/9789210012232 https://assets.speakcdn.com/assets/2497/ncadv_florida_fact_sheet_2020.pdf
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grant 2115943. The findings and conclusions of this research are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the NSF.