Intimate partner violence before and during the COVID-19 lockdown: findings from a cross-sectional study in Singapore
Caitlin Alsandria O’Hara
A * and Rayner Kay Jin Tan B C
A Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
B University of North Carolina Project-China, Guangzhou, China.
C Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Sexual Health 19(3) 192-201 https://doi.org/10.1071/SH21229
Submitted: 23 November 2021 Accepted: 26 April 2022 Published: 31 May 2022
© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY)
Abstract
Background: The coronavirus diseases 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic resulted in lockdowns worldwide, with reports suggesting a concomitant increase in the incidence of intimate partner violence (IPV). This study was part of the International Sexual and Reproductive Health (I-SHARE) Consortium, examining IPV and its correlates before and during lockdown in April 2020.
Methods: This cross-sectional observational study, conducted online during August–September 2020, recruited 259 participants from Singapore who reported having a steady partner. Alongside socio-demographic data before and during COVID-19 lockdown, the respondents self-reported their encounters with partner violence. Partner violence was measured using an adapted six-item version of the WHO IPV scale.
Results: Data revealed an incidence of 17.2%, 25.0%, 16.7%, 17.6%, 17.5% and 18.5% of restriction of contact with others, verbal abuse, restriction of access to finances, physical violence, pressured sex and forced sex, respectively, before COVID-19 lockdown. During lockdown, incidences of these forms of violence were 17.4%, 19.8%, 14.7%, 13.5%, 14.7% and 15.2%, respectively. Multivariable analyses showed that being younger, being non-heterosexual, and having more children and adolescents at home were significantly associated with partner violence both before and during lockdown. Analyses also revealed that being of Chinese ethnicity and having a monthly income above SGD3000 were not significantly correlated to partner violence before lockdown but emerged as significant during lockdown.
Conclusions: Some sociodemographic factors were associated with violence regardless of lockdown, while other factors were exacerbated by lockdown. Interventions should consider these key correlates of partner-based violence, ensuring adequate and appropriate support for vulnerable populations both within and outside of lockdown contexts.
Keywords: Asia, COVID-19, domestic violence, intimate partner violence, lockdown, relationships, sexual violence, Singapore.
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