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BMC Public Health
Published in: BMC Public Health 1/2024

Open Access 01-12-2024 | COVID-19 | Research

Housing insecurity among black women surviving intimate partner violence during the COVID-19 pandemic: an intersectional qualitative approach

Authors: Tiara C. Willie, Sabriya L. Linton, Shannon Whittaker, Karlye A. Phillips, Deja Knight, Mya C. Gray, Gretta Gardner, Nicole M. Overstreet

Published in: BMC Public Health | Issue 1/2024

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Abstract

Background

Housing instability is highly prevalent among intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors, and the coupling consequences of structural racism, sexism, classism, and the COVID-19 pandemic, may create more barriers to safe and adequate housing, specifically for Black women IPV survivors. In particular, the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic had the potential to amplify disadvantages for Black women IPV survivors, yet very little research has acknowledged it. Therefore, the current study sought to assess the experiences of housing insecurity among Black women experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) while navigating racism, sexism, and classism during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

From January to April 2021, we conducted in-depth interviews with 50 Black women experiencing IPV in the United States. Guided by intersectionality, a hybrid thematic and interpretive phenomenological analytic approach was used to identify sociostructural factors shaping housing insecurity.

Results

Our findings demonstrate the various ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic shaped Black women IPV survivors’ ability to obtain and sustain safe housing. We derived five themes to capture factors contributing to housing experiences: challenges with separate and unequal neighborhoods; pandemic-related economic inequalities; economic abuse limitations; and strategies to maintain housing.

Conclusions

Obtaining and maintaining safe housing during the COVID-19 pandemic was difficult for Black women IPV survivors who were also navigating racism, sexism, and socioeconomic position. Interventions are needed to reduce the impact of these intersecting systems of oppression and power to facilitate the resources necessary for Black women IPV survivors to identify safe housing.
Appendix
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Metadata
Title
Housing insecurity among black women surviving intimate partner violence during the COVID-19 pandemic: an intersectional qualitative approach
Authors
Tiara C. Willie
Sabriya L. Linton
Shannon Whittaker
Karlye A. Phillips
Deja Knight
Mya C. Gray
Gretta Gardner
Nicole M. Overstreet
Publication date
01-12-2024
Publisher
BioMed Central
Keyword
COVID-19
Published in
BMC Public Health / Issue 1/2024
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2458
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-17965-5

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