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 mont

SUBMITTER: Miller AR 

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

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature