Dataset Information

Effects of COVID-19 shutdowns on domestic violence in US cities.

ABSTRACT: We empirically investigate the impact of COVID-19 shutdowns on domestic violence using incident-level data on both domestic-related calls for service and crime reports of domestic violence assaults from the 18 major US police departments for which both types of records are available. Although we confirm prior reports of an increase in domestic calls for service at the start of the pandemic, we find that the increase preceded mandatory shutdowns, and there was an incremental decline following the government imposition of restrictions. We also find no evidence that domestic violence crimes increased. Rather, police reports of domestic violence assaults declined significantly during the initial shutdown period. There was no significant change in intimate partner homicides during shutdown months and victimization survey reports of intimate partner violence were lower. Our results fail to support claims that shutdowns increased domestic violence and suggest caution before drawing inference or basing policy solely on data from calls to police.

SUBMITTER: Miller AR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9343070 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Effects of COVID-19 shutdowns on domestic violence in US cities.

Miller Amalia R AR Segal Carmit C Spencer Melissa K MK

Journal of urban economics 20220802

We empirically investigate the impact of COVID-19 shutdowns on domestic violence using incident-level data on both domestic-related calls for service and crime reports of domestic violence assaults from the 18 major US police departments for which both types of records are available. Although we confirm prior reports of an increase in domestic calls for service at the start of the pandemic, we find that the increase preceded mandatory shutdowns, and there was an incremental decline following the ...[more]

PMID: 35936356

Similar Datasets

Project description:Background: Domestic violence is a traumatic experience that can lead to physical consequences, mental disorders and financial damage. Over 18 cases per 100,000 inhabitants were reported in Brazil between 2013 and 2014. The ministry of health poses a mandatory notification of all cases of domestic violence, which is essential, bearing in mind its systemic relation to various social issues and the extensive regional differences and high socioeconomic inequalities present in Brazil. Aim: To analyze the characteristics of the notification rates of domestic violence and investigate the correlation of these with health and socioeconomic characteristics of large Brazilian cities. Methods: Retrospective data on notifications of domestic violence was collected from the National Information System for Notifiable Diseases for Brazil, 2017. Dependent variables were collected from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics and Ministry of Citizenship. Inclusion criteria were: cities larger than 100.000 habitants and that had at least 20 reports, totaling 68.313 reports in 259 cities. These were stratified by age, race and sex of victim, type of violence used, violence perpetrator, place of occurrence and means of aggression. Proportional number of notified cases was calculated for each city to expose different characteristics of reports. A multiple linear regression model was used to investigate the correlation between report rates and different socioeconomic and health variables. Results: The analysis showed a high proportion of repeated violence, use of body strength and over 50% were perpetrated by a partner or boyfriend. Report rates were higher for women, black individuals and children under four, highlighting subgroups of the population that were more vulnerable. Indeed, these groups were correlated differently with socioeconomic variables. Poverty, assessed as Bolsa Família investment, was correlated with domestic violence report rates across vulnerable groups. Conclusion: The study showed that black women and children are more vulnerable to domestic violence, highlighting deleterious effects of patriarchy and structural racism within Brazilian society. Altogether, we suggest that reducing poverty, patriarchy and structural racism could lead to fewer cases of domestic violence.

Project description:ObjectivesThis scoping review aims to assess the situation of violence against women during the COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America, mainly in Brazil.MethodsThis study consists of a Scoping Review based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement. To conduct this review, we mapped scientific evidence on domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic. The inclusion criteria were: journal articles on domestic violence set in Latin American countries, particularly Brazil, in the context of social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, published between March 2020 and June of 2021. Articles that were not published in journals, studies focusing on child violence or the elderly population, suicide-related approaches, editorials and letters to readers were excluded. The databases used were: National Library of Medicine (PubMed), Embase, COVID-19 Global literature on coronavirus disease, Scopus Preview, Web of Science, LILAC's, Database of the best Evidence-Based Health (Epistemonikos) with the following strategic keywords: "domestic violence" "female'/exp OR female" "domestic violence AND women" "SARS-CoV-19") AND ("domestic violence") SARS-CoV-2" OR "2020-nCoV". The databases above were accessed in July 2021. The articles selected from the databases were synthetized following the double-check procedure and the topics that were most relevant to the subject discussed were separated. The articles used were in English, Portuguese, and Spanish.ResultsWe discussed domestic violence against women in the context of social isolation, showing a significant increase and highlighting aggravating factors - financial instability, exacerbation of the female workload, increase in drug and alcohol consumption, lack of access to care services - and statistics that demonstrate the significant increase in countries such as Argentina, Ecuador, Paraguay and Brazil, especially in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Paraná, among other states. Despite the meaningful increase in the number of cases and the aggravating factors for domestic violence against women in Latin America and Brazil during the COVID-19 pandemic, the reality of underreporting, resulting, among others, from limited legal, social and economic support and the lack of well-prepared intersectoral services may be a limitation in this scenario, since the situation can be even more acute. We presented measures adopted in Brazil and alternatives to confront the critical situation of domestic violence against women, aggravated by social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic.The 18 most relevant articles were read twice by each author, following the "Double-Check" protocol. The articles used addressed important questions around the established goals: (a) characteristics of the current scenarios in Latin America and, specifically, in Brazil, with regard to violence against women; (b) factors that intensify this type of violence; (c) numbers that demonstrate an increase in cases; and finally (e) strategies to combat domestic violence against women. A total of 595 articles were found, then, based on the abstracts presented, 18 articles were used to write this scoping review.

Dataset Information

Effects of COVID-19 shutdowns on domestic violence in US cities.

Publications

Effects of COVID-19 shutdowns on domestic violence in US cities.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets