When Home is Not a Safe Place: Impacts of Social Distancing Directives on Women Living with HIV
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NOTES FROM THE FIELD
When Home is Not a Safe Place: Impacts of Social Distancing Directives on Women Living with HIV Kalysha Closson1,2 · Melanie Lee3 · Andrew Gibbs4,5 · Angela Kaida3
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
During the current COVID-19 crisis, countries globally are telling citizens to stay home. But what happens when home is not a safe place? Emerging evidence suggests that ‘stay home’ regulations for the COVID-19 pandemic results in elevated rates of domestic violence, including elder and child abuse, as well as physical, sexual, and emotional intimate partner violence (IPV) [1, 2]. In China, police reports of IPV during lockdown were three times higher than prior to quarantine regulations [3]. Similarly, reports of IPV in France have increased by 30% since March 17th, 2020 and by 25% since March 20th, 2020 in Argentina [1]. In the United States, which as of June 1st has the largest COVID19 epidemic globally, police data in a number of different jurisdictions that have implemented ‘stay home’ regulations have indicated increases in domestic violence reports ranging from 10% in New York City, to 27% in Jefferson County, Alabama [4–6]. Our response to COVID-19 must not repeat the violations to women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights that occurred during previous pandemic responses, including the 2014–2016 Ebola outbreak, whereby women were denied access to violence support and sexual and * Kalysha Closson [email protected] 1
School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, 2206 E Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada
2
British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, 608‑1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6, Canada
3
Faculty of Health Sciences, Burnaby, Canada, Simon Fraser University, Blusson Hall, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, B.C V5A 1S6, Canada
4
South African Medical Research Council, Gender and Health Unit, 491 Peter Mokaba Ridge, Road, Overport, Durban 4091, KZN, South Africa
5
Centre for Rural Health, School of Nursing and Public Health, University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), Durban, South Africa, George Campbell Building West Wing, UKZN Howard College Campus, Durban 4001, KZN, South Africa
reproductive health services, which overwhelmed the judicial system, and resulted in a 75% increase in maternal mortality [2]. While health care systems face mounting pressure and resource strains due to COVID-19, this must not be the time to divert resources away from essential services that support and protect women who have experienced or are experiencing IPV [2].
COVID‑19 will Exacerbate Inequities Faced by Women Living with HIV We have learned many lessons in the global effort to end HIV/AIDS, including that emerging epidemics such as COVID-19 exacerbate and exploit existing inequities of gender, gender identity, ethnicity, sexuality, income, age, and ability, and disproportionately affect those at the margins [7]. Moreover, we have seen that the social, psychological and economic impacts of the p
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