By Cara Ebert, Janina Isabel Steinert:

We study the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on domestic violence against women in Germany in 2020. The analysis draws on three data sources: (1) longitudinal administrative data on the volume of help requests to helplines, shelters and counselling services, (2) cross-sectional survey data collected during the first wave of the pandemic, and (3) a qualitative online survey with counsellors and domestic violence experts. The number of violence-related requests at helplines increased significantly by 29% with the first physical distancing measures, whereas ambulatory care services such as shelters experienced a 19% increase in help requests only after physical distancing restrictions were lifted. Our results indicate that individuals substituted help services away from ambulatory care towards helplines. We do not observe exacerbated violence in states with greater mobility reductions, lower daycare capacity for childcare or higher COVID-19 infection numbers. Our findings highlight the importance of providing easily accessible online counselling offers for survivors of violence and governmental financial relief packages.

IZA DP No. 16793 Bonn, Germany: IZA – Institute of Labor Economics, 2024. 47p.

By Sarah Armstrong and Lucy Pickering

This study was funded by the Chief Scientist Office, Scottish Government, as part of its Rapid Research in Covid-19 Programme and was conducted between July and December 2020. The study was completed by a team of researchers at the University of Glasgow and supported by 20 partners from the third sector. The research focused on the impact of Covid-19 restrictions (‘lockdown’) for four groups already experiencing exclusion, isolation and marginalisation: people having a disability or long-term health condition (DHC); People involved in criminal justice (CJS); Refugees and people seeking asylum who were at risk of destitution (RAD); People surviving domestic abuse or sexual violence (DASV). As a rapid research project, the study aims to understand and report on the impacts of Covid-19 restrictions as they are happening, in order to contribute to better responses to it; the analysis presented may be further developed and modified. It has been recognised that social research is needed alongside medical and health research to understand the effects of this pandemic on individual and collective wellbeing. Already evidence has established that social inequalities are shaping Covid-19 risk and impact, but the evidence base is not yet well-established for Scotland.  

Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2020. 167p.