Giving Compass' Take:

• In the journal of Violence Against Women, researchers are finding that domestic violence survivors are facing challenges in regards to housing and food security during COVID-19. 

• What are the ways that communities can help support survivors during this time? 

• Read more about protecting survivors of domestic abuse. 

“Many survivors exiting domestic violence shelters are reporting difficulties in accessing resources within the community. Survivors in our study voiced concerns regarding access to food and transportation and securing safe housing, employment, and affordable child care,” says lead investigator Amanda M. Stylianou, a director at Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care.

For the study in the journal Violence Against Women, researchers conducted three interviews with some 83 survivors over nine months in six emergency domestic violence shelters that provide supportive services to victims of crime and abuse.

Participants reported a lack of choice in both housing options and the communities they could move into, as well as an overall lack of stability and structure in the transition process and beyond. They also identified difficulties in accessing community resources and stressed that additional resources are needed to protect domestic violence victims and their children in the community.

After leaving, many respondents moved into overcrowded apartments, returned to apartment buildings where the abusive partner lives, or returned to the abusive relationship after discovering a lack of housing. Parents shared their children’s concerns about feeling lonely, missing family and friends, and the difficulties they experienced in moving in and out of shelters.

Read the full article about domestic violence survivors during COVID-19 by Patti Verbanas at Futurity.