The Experiences of Post-Separation Survivors of Domestic Violence During the Covid-19 Pandemic: Findings From a Qualitative Study in the United Kingdom.

Publisher: Sage Publications Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 9506308 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1552-8448 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 10778012 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Violence Against Women Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: Thousand Oaks, CA : Sage Publications, c1995-

COVID-19*/psychology ; COVID-19*/epidemiology ; Survivors*/psychology ; Qualitative Research* ; Domestic Violence*/psychology ; Domestic Violence*/statistics & numerical data; Humans ; United Kingdom ; Female ; Adult ; Middle Aged ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Pandemics ; Psychological Distress ; Fear/psychology

Post-separation for domestic violence (DV) survivors is known to be a period of heightened risk of domestic homicide. Evidence points to increased rates of DV during the Covid-19 pandemic, with specific challenges in help-seeking from DV services, yet studies that capture this qualitatively are still emerging. This UK study investigated the experiences of 21 separated DV survivors (all women) during the Covid-19 pandemic. Inductive, thematic analysis highlighted participants' psychological distress, isolation, fear of Covid-19 transmission, and detachment from support networks. The findings reflect the interconnected nature of adversities experienced by DV survivors and the exacerbation of these due to the insidious, multifaceted, and synergistic impacts of DV and the pandemic.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Keywords: covid-19 pandemic; domestic violence; post-separation; qualitative study; survivors

Date Created: 20221207 Date Completed: 20240603 Latest Revision: 20240603

20240603

PMC9742736

10.1177/10778012221142914

36474432