Intimate Partner Violence in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Presented by Rebecca A Smith-Casey, JD, PsyD

Recorded on Tuesday, February 4, 2025

Access provided upon registration on “My Courses page 

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) includes “any behavior by an intimate partner or ex-partner that causes physical, sexual or psychological harm, including acts of physical aggression, sexual coercion, psychological abuse and controlling behaviors” (Heise & Garcia-Moreno, 2002). It is estimated that more than 1 in 3 women worldwide have experienced physical and/or sexual partner violence, or sexual violence by a nonpartner (Wu et al., 2020). Per Howard et al. (2022) globally 27% of women aged 15 and older who have ever been in a romantic relationship have experienced some type of IPV, with the highest prevalence rates identified in low-income countries.

Pre-pandemic research identified factors that increase the probability of IPV in relationships to include social relationships embodying power inequalities, including access to resources, which was a factor present during portions of the COVID-19 pandemic beginning in 2020. Power inequities we see in abusive relationships were increased, especially as abusers lost control over other aspects of their life, which may result in the abuser compensating for their stress by exerting more control over the abused. Within a relatively short period of time around the world organizations providing services to survivors of IPV began seeing increases, as compared to the same time period in prior years, in the number of people (mostly women) seeking help. These increases were so well documented that the Executive Director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka (2020), stated that the world was seeing a growing shadow pandemic of violence against women.

Wyckoff et al. (2023) conducted in-depth interviews with 10 survivors of IPV who presented at a large public hospital or sought community IPV resources in Atlanta, GA between March and December 2020. The general themes were that movement restrictions, social distancing measures, and the repercussions of the pandemic influenced their relationship challenges, including the occurrence of new or a higher frequency and/or severity of IPV episodes.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was anticipated that, in the next decade, more than 100 million girl children would be married before reaching their eighteenth birthdays. However, an additional warning was issued indicating that, as a result of the pandemic, girls will be under even more serious threat over the next decade and that up to an additional 10 million girls could be at risk of becoming child brides (UNICEF, 2021). The FBI has noted that since the start of the pandemic there has been an explosion in technology-facilitated sexual violence (TFSV), which is defined as sexual abuse via electronic or digital means, and can include nonconsensual pornography (also known as “revenge porn”), deepfakes, cyber harassment, cyber stalking, cyber dating violence, and sexual extortion or “sextortion.”

The presentation will review the findings of research on IPV during and following the pandemic, with a focus on considering the implications for practice.

This program, when attended in its entirety, offers 2.0 CEs for Psychologists, 2.0 IL CEUS for Counselors and Social Workers, 2.0 BBS California CEUs for LPCCs, LPSWs, and LMFTs, 2.0 NASP CPDs for School Psychologists, or 2.0 NBCC Clock Hours*. (*NBCC Clock Hours are available for live program attendance only.)