The survey found that economic stresses associated with the pandemic were linked both to the onset and escalation of intimate partner violence. especially first-time violence.
This article contains references to domestic violence:
Women’s economic insecurity during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic was linked with an increased chance of experiencing intimate partner violence, a new study has found.
The study builds on earlier research from Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS) into the “shadow pandemic” of violence against women, in particular intimate partner violence (IPV).
It has reinforced calls to improve women’s economic safety by including strategies that “address harmful attitudes supporting gender norms and dismantle systems that enable these problematic attitudes”.
Researchers from the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) last year surveyed 10,000 women aged 18 years and over about their experiences of violence in their most recent intimate relationship prior to and during the first 12 months of the pandemic.
They were also asked about economic security, including financial stress and experiences of associated economic hardship, such as an inability to pay bills, going without medical treatment or skipping meals.