Top

Published in:

01-07-2022 | Coronavirus | Original Article

Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19): Violence, Reproductive Rights and Related Health Risks for Women, Opportunities for Practice Innovation

Authors: Nelia Viveiros, Amy E. Bonomi

Published in: Journal of Family Violence | Issue 5/2022

Abstract

While the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has broad health implications across the globe, being overlooked in response and policy debates is the impact on women’s reproductive rights and violence risk. This is especially salient for minoritized women. In this commentary, we describe the potential negative impact of mandates such as shelter-in-place for domestic violence victims, and how public reproductive health policy is being shaped to disadvantage women, especially minoritized women. We argue that now is the time for violence prevention leaders to advocate for bold action. This includes prioritizing the needs of women (especially minoritized women) in medical, social and legal settings using innovative intervention and service engagement (e.g., e-filing for protection orders, virtual advocacy services), urging policy makers to pass legislation to support women, and shining an accountability spotlight on leadership.

Minoritized is a term coined by Harper (2012) and refers to the social construction of under-represented identities.

While our paper focuses on the experiences of women at risk for DV and reproductive rights infractions, other critical virtual support services are paramount. For example, the virtual Positive Women’s Network #PWN Cares Sister Circle Virtual Support Group is providing support for women and people of trans experience living with HIV (Shearer 2020).

Allen-Ebrahimian. (2020). China’s domestic violence epidemic. Axios. Retrieved May 23, 2020, from https://www.axios.com/china-domestic-violence-coronavirus-quarantine-7b00c3ba-35bc-4d16-afdd-b76ecfb28882.html

Andrew, S. (2020). Domestic violence victims, stuck at home, are at risk during coronavirus pandemic. CNN Health. Retrieved May 22, 2020, from https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/27/health/domestic-violence-coronavirus-wellness-trnd/index.html

Bacchus, L., Mezey, G., & Bewley, S. (2004). Domestic violence: Prevalence in pregnancy women and associations with physical and psychological health. European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, 113(1), 6–11.CrossRef

Bonomi, A. E., & Martin, D. (2020). Domestic abusers: expert triangulators, new victim advocacy models to buffer against it. Journal of Family Violence. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-020-00156-2.

Bosman, J. (2020). Domestic violence calls mount as restrictions linger: No one can leave. New York Times. Retrieved May 22, 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/15/us/domestic-violence-coronavirus.html

Breiding, M. J., Smith, S. G., Basile, K. C., Walters, M. L., Chen, J., & Merrick, M. T. (2014). Prevalence and characteristics of sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence victimization—National intimate partner and sexual violence survey, United States, 2011. MMWR 2014, 63(SS-8), 1–18.

Carlson, D.L., Petts, R. & Pepin, J. (2020). US couples division of housework and childcare during COVID-19 pandemic. SocAirXiv Papers. Retrieved May 18, 2020, from https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/jy8fn?smid=nytcore-ios-share

Centers for Disease Control. (2020a). Cases in the U.S. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/cases-in-us.html

Centers for Disease Control. (2020b). Characteristics of health care personnel with COVID-19 — United States, February 12–April 9, 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2020; 69:477–481. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6915e6.htm?s_cid=mm6915e6_w#suggestedcitation

Centers for Disease Control. (2020c). Provisional death counts for coronavirus diseases (COVID-19). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/index.htm

Enlace Zapatista. (2020). Invitación de «Mujeres y la Sexta» a todas las que luchamos contra el patriarcado y el capitalismo a la Reunión virtual del sábado 18 de abril a las 10:00 am. Retrieved May 25, 2020, from http://enlacezapatista.ezln.org.mx/2020/04/14/invitacion-de-mujeres-y-la-sexta-a-todas-las-que-luchamos-contra-el-patriarcado-y-el-capitalismo-a-la-reunion-virtual-del-sabado-18-de-abril-a-las-1000-am/

Gallardo, M. (2020). Dramatic increase in domestic violence calls to Chicago police over the last 3 weeks. Abc7 Chicago. Retrieved May 22, 2020, from https://abc7chicago.com/domestic-violence-stay-at-home-coronavirus-chicago-police/6082027/

Gazmararian, J. A., Elon, L., Yang, B., Graham, M., & Parker, R. (2014). Text4baby program: an opportunity to reach underserved pregnant and postpartum women? Maternal and Child Health Journal, 18(1), 223–232.CrossRef

Governor of New York, Press Office. (2020). Press Office. Following Spike in domestic violence during COVID-19 pandemic, secretary to the Governor Melissa Derosa & NYS Council on Women & girls launch task force to find innovative solutions to crisis [Press Release]. Retrieved May 24, 2020, from https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/following-spike-domestic-violence-during-covid-19-pandemic-secretary-governor-melissa-derosa

Green, S.J. (2020). Police, prosecutors and victim advocates worry coronavirus stay-at-home order will cause spike in domestic violence. The Seattle times. Retrieved April 15, 2020, from https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/police-prosecutors-and-victim-advocates-worry-coronavirus-stay-at-home-order-will-cause-spike-in-domestic-violence/

Harper, S. R. (2012). Race without racism: how higher education researchers minimize racist institutional norms. The Review of Higher Education, 1(36), 9–29.CrossRef

Hathaway, B. (2020). New analysis quantifies risk of COVID-19 to racial, ethnic minorities. Yale news. Retrieved May 20, 2020, from https://news.yale.edu/2020/05/19/new-analysis-quantifies-risk-covid-19-racial-ethnic-minorities

Hume, T., (2020). France is putting domestic abuse victims in hotels during coronavirus lockdown. Vice News. Retrieved April 4, 2020, from https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/y3mj4g/france-is-putting-domestic-abuse-victims-in-hotels-during-coronavirus-lockdown?utm_campaign=sharebutton&fbclid=IwAR3P-b9hCvlyFmyhrBlLRqmegnAYIuY64YZfDt2hfxp_SZFmMgEUP7TCx2I

Liu, F., McFarlane, J., Maddoux, J. A., Cesario, S., Gilroy, H., & Nava, A. (2016). Perceived fertility control and pregnancy outcomes among abused women. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecological & Neonatal Nursing, 45(4), 592–600.CrossRef

Mehta, S. (2020). Michigan governor Whitmer, a trump target, leaps into prominence during coronavirus crisis. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 4, 2020, from https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-04-03/michigan-gretchen-whitmer-biden-trump-coronavirus.

Ollstein, A.M. (2020). Judges block 3 states from enforcing abortion bans pegged to pandemic. Politico. Retrieved April 3, 2020, from https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/30/judge-lifts-texas-abortion-ban-pegged-to-coronavirus-pandemic-156210

Pallitto, C. C., Campbell, J. C., & O’Campo, P. (2005). Is intimate partner violence associated with unintended pregnancy? A review of the literature. Trauma, Violence & Abuse, 6(3), 217–235.CrossRef

Petrosky, E., Blair, J. M., Betz, C. J., Fowler, K. A., Jack, S. P. D., & Lyons, B. H. (2017). Racial and ethnic differences in homicides of adult women and the role of intimate partner violence - United States, 2003–2014. MMWR Weekly, 66(28), 741–746.

Radil, A. (2020). With courthouse closed, King County unveils e-filing for domestic violence victims. KUOW. Retrieved April 2, 2020, from https://www.kuow.org/stories/with-courthouse-closed-king-county-unveils-e-filing-for-dv-victims. Accessed 2 Apr 2020.

Riley, T., Sully, E., Ahmed, A., & Biddlecom, A. (2020). Estimates of the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sexual and reproductive health in low-and middle-income countries. Reproductive Health, 46, 73–76.

Sandoiu, A. (2020). How COVID-10 affects women’s sexual and reproductive health. Medical News Today. Retrieved May 24, 2020, from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/how-covid-19-affects-womens-sexual-and-reproductive-health

Santucci, Jeanine. (2020). Republicans call for DOJ investigation into Planned Parenthood over coronavirus relief loans. USA Today. Retrieved May 23, 2020, from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/05/22/republicans-want-investigation-into-planned-parenthood-ppp-loans/5246256002/

Sarkar, N. N. (2008). The impact of intimate partner violence on women’s reproductive health and pregnancy outcome. Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 28(3), 266–271.CrossRef

Shearer, C. (2020). Telehealth can be a lifeline for survivors of intimate partner violence/domestic violence like me. Positive Women’s Network. Retrieved May 23, 2020, from https://www.pwn-usa.org/pwnspeaks-blog/the-importance-of-telehealth-for-survivors-of-intimate-partner-violence-domestic-violence/

Shigemura, J., Ursano, R. J., Morganstein, J. C., Kurosawa, M., & Benedek, D. M. (2020). Public responses to the novel 2019 coronavirus (2019-nCOV) in Japan: Mental health consequences and target populations. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 74(4), 281–282.CrossRef

Stockman, J. K., Hayashi, H., & Campbell, J. C. (2015). Intimate partner violence and its health impact on disproportionately affected populations, including minorities and impoverished groups. Journal of Women’s Health, 24(1), 62–79.CrossRef

Szal, R. (2020). So what’s included in that $2.2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package? And what’s missing? Ms Magazine. Retrieved April 3, 2020, from https://msmagazine.com/2020/03/31/so-whats-included-in-that-2-2-trillion-coronavirus-stimulus-package-and-whats-missing/

Townsend, M. (2020). Revealed: Surge in domestic violence during COVID-19 crisis. The Observer. Retrieved May 22, 2020, from https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/apr/12/domestic-violence-surges-seven-hundred-per-cent-uk-coronavirus.

Twenge, J.M. & Joiner, T.E. (2020). Mental distress among U.S. adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. PsyArXiv Preprints. https://psyarxiv.com/wc8ud

United Nations Population Fund (2020a). COVID-19: A gender lens. Retrieved from: https://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/resource-pdf/COVID-19_A_Gender_Lens_Guidance_Note.pdf

United Nations Population Fund. (2020b). Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on family planning and ending gender-based violence, Female Genital Mutilation and Child Marriage. Retrieved from https://www.unfpa.org/resources/impact-covid-19-pandemic-family-planning-and-ending-gender-based-violence-female-genital

United States Census Bureau (2017). Computer and internet use. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/topics/population/computer-internet.html

Von Hagel, A., & Mansbach, D. (2016). Reproductive rights in the age of human rights. London, United Kingdom, Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 978-1-137-53951-9.

Wenham, C., Smith, J., & Morgan, R. (2020). COVID-19: the gendered impacts of the outbreak. The Lancet, 395(10227), 846–848.CrossRef

Title: Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19): Violence, Reproductive Rights and Related Health Risks for Women, Opportunities for Practice Innovation
Authors: Nelia Viveiros
Amy E. Bonomi
Publication date: 01-07-2022
Publisher: Springer US
Keywords: Coronavirus
COVID-19
Published in: Journal of Family Violence / Issue 5/2022
Print ISSN: 0885-7482
Electronic ISSN: 1573-2851
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-020-00169-x

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19): Violence, Reproductive Rights and Related Health Risks for Women, Opportunities for Practice Innovation

Abstract

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 5/2022

Understanding the Relationships between Parenting Stress and Mental Health with Grandparent Kinship Caregivers’ Risky Parenting Behaviors in the Time of COVID-19

The Impact of COVID-19 on the Delivery of an Evidence-Based Child Maltreatment Prevention Program: Understanding the Perspectives of SafeCare® Providers

Loneliness and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications for Intimate Partner Violence Survivors

Physical and Emotional Sibling Violence in the Time of COVID -19

Covid-19 and Domestic Violence: an Indirect Path to Social and Economic Crisis

“The Stay at Home Order is Causing Things to Get Heated Up”: Family Conflict Dynamics During COVID-19 From The Perspectives of Youth Calling a National Child Abuse Hotline