Abstract
Disasters including public health crises like the COVID-19 pandemic are known to increase instances of family violence against women, children, and other diverse populations. This paper discusses and provides evidence of disaster-related vulnerability of and violence towards specific groups of people. We argue that the COVID-19 pandemic presents the ‘perfect storm’ for family violence, where a set of rare circumstances combine, resulting in a significant aggravation of the resulting event. Given the mental health implications of family violence, mental health professionals need to be aware of this issue during the pandemic and ready to assist with the development of strategies to overcome the situation where possible. To provide protection and prevent violence, there is a need to include at-risk groups in disaster response and community planning. Such a plan could involve gender and disaster working groups at the local community, state, and national levels.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1022-1032 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | International Journal of Mental Health Nursing |
| Volume | 30 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Early online date | 18 May 2021 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Aug 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd
Keywords
- COVID-19
- disaster
- domestic violence
- pandemic
- trauma
- violence
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Phychiatric Mental Health
Access to Document
- UsherK2021COVID19
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Usher, K., Bradbury Jones, C., Bhullar, N., Durkin, D.J., Gyamfi, N., Fatema, S.R. and Jackson, D. (2021), COVID-19 and family violence: Is this a perfect storm?. Int J Mental Health Nurs, 30: 1022-1032, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.12876. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.