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COVID-19 and gender-based violence service provision in the United States

INTRODUCTION: Gender-based violence (GBV) policies and services in the United States (U.S.) have historically been underfunded and siloed from other health services. Soon after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, reports emerged noting increases in GBV and disruption of health services but few studi...

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Autores principales: Sapire, Rachel, Ostrowski, Jennifer, Maier, Malia, Samari, Goleen, Bencomo, Clarisa, McGovern, Terry
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8849472/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35171963
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0263970
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author Sapire, Rachel
Ostrowski, Jennifer
Maier, Malia
Samari, Goleen
Bencomo, Clarisa
McGovern, Terry
author_facet Sapire, Rachel
Ostrowski, Jennifer
Maier, Malia
Samari, Goleen
Bencomo, Clarisa
McGovern, Terry
author_sort Sapire, Rachel
collection PubMed
description INTRODUCTION: Gender-based violence (GBV) policies and services in the United States (U.S.) have historically been underfunded and siloed from other health services. Soon after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, reports emerged noting increases in GBV and disruption of health services but few studies have empirically investigated these impacts. This study examines how the existing GBV funding and policy landscape, COVID-19, and resulting state policies in the first six months of the pandemic affect GBV health service provision in the U.S. METHODS: This is a mixed method study consisting of 1) an analysis of state-by-state emergency response policies review; 2) a quantitative analysis of a survey of U.S.-based GBV service providers (N = 77); and 3) a qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with U.S.-based GBV service providers (N = 11). Respondents spanned a range of organization types, populations served, and states. RESULTS: Twenty-one states enacted protections for GBV survivors and five states included explicit exemptions from non-essential business closures for GBV service providers. Through the surveys and interviews, GBV service providers note three major themes on COVID-19’s impact on GBV services: reductions in GBV service provision and quality and increased workload, shifts in service utilization, and funding impacts. Findings also indicate GBV inequities were exacerbated for historically underserved groups. DISCUSSION: The noted disruptions on GBV services from the COVID-19 pandemic overlaid long-term policy and funding limitations that left service providers unprepared for the challenges posed by the pandemic. Future policies, in emergency and non-emergency contexts, should recognize GBV as essential care and ensure comprehensive services for clients, particularly members of historically underserved groups.
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spelling pubmed-88494722022-02-17 COVID-19 and gender-based violence service provision in the United States Sapire, Rachel Ostrowski, Jennifer Maier, Malia Samari, Goleen Bencomo, Clarisa McGovern, Terry PLoS One Research Article INTRODUCTION: Gender-based violence (GBV) policies and services in the United States (U.S.) have historically been underfunded and siloed from other health services. Soon after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, reports emerged noting increases in GBV and disruption of health services but few studies have empirically investigated these impacts. This study examines how the existing GBV funding and policy landscape, COVID-19, and resulting state policies in the first six months of the pandemic affect GBV health service provision in the U.S. METHODS: This is a mixed method study consisting of 1) an analysis of state-by-state emergency response policies review; 2) a quantitative analysis of a survey of U.S.-based GBV service providers (N = 77); and 3) a qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with U.S.-based GBV service providers (N = 11). Respondents spanned a range of organization types, populations served, and states. RESULTS: Twenty-one states enacted protections for GBV survivors and five states included explicit exemptions from non-essential business closures for GBV service providers. Through the surveys and interviews, GBV service providers note three major themes on COVID-19’s impact on GBV services: reductions in GBV service provision and quality and increased workload, shifts in service utilization, and funding impacts. Findings also indicate GBV inequities were exacerbated for historically underserved groups. DISCUSSION: The noted disruptions on GBV services from the COVID-19 pandemic overlaid long-term policy and funding limitations that left service providers unprepared for the challenges posed by the pandemic. Future policies, in emergency and non-emergency contexts, should recognize GBV as essential care and ensure comprehensive services for clients, particularly members of historically underserved groups. Public Library of Science 2022-02-16 /pmc/articles/PMC8849472/ /pubmed/35171963 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0263970 Text en © 2022 Sapire et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Sapire, Rachel
Ostrowski, Jennifer
Maier, Malia
Samari, Goleen
Bencomo, Clarisa
McGovern, Terry
COVID-19 and gender-based violence service provision in the United States
title COVID-19 and gender-based violence service provision in the United States
title_full COVID-19 and gender-based violence service provision in the United States
title_fullStr COVID-19 and gender-based violence service provision in the United States
title_full_unstemmed COVID-19 and gender-based violence service provision in the United States
title_short COVID-19 and gender-based violence service provision in the United States
title_sort covid-19 and gender-based violence service provision in the united states
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8849472/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35171963
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0263970
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