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An Online Resource Library on Domestic & Sexual Violence

Impact

This section features reports, papers and fact sheets discussing the intersections of gender, violence and disasters. The resources listed below draw attention to the serious impact of disasters on women and their children, highlighting the disproportionate vulnerability of these groups to domestic and sexual violence during major disasters and crisis situations.

“During the COVID-19 pandemic, reports of domestic violence across the United States increased from 21% to 35%. Stay-at-home orders, designed to protect the public against the spread of COVID-19, along with heightened societal stressors as a result of the global pandemic, inadvertently increased rates of illicit drug and alcohol use, job loss, and isolation, resulting in increased stress and nonphysical (e.g., psychological, emotional, economic, technological) abuse that often escalated to physical violence” (Smith-Clapham et al., 2023).

A 2021 study compared 911 and emergency hotline calls for domestic violence in seven cities to find out what happened when people started staying home due to COVID-19. The study estimated that there were approximately 1,030 more calls to police and 1,671 more calls to emergency hotlines than would have occurred absent the pandemic (Richards et al., 2021).

“In the US, studies documented a four-fold increase following two disasters and an astounding 98 per cent increase in physical victimisation of women after Hurricane Katrina, with authors concluding there was compelling evidence that intimate partner violence increased following large-scale disasters (Schumacher, et al., 2010). Yet there is a research gap on why this happens, and how increased violence may relate to disaster experiences” (Parkinson & Zara, 2013).

“Following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Lauve-Moon and Ferreira (2016) found that women directly impacted by the event were approximately twice as likely to experience both physical and emotional IPV and women who experienced both emotional and physical IPV were 5 times more likely to report that they rarely or never received the social and emotional support they needed post-disaster” (First et al., 2017).

COVID-19 Special Report

This report, reflective of data collected by the National Domestic Violence Hotline between March 16 to May 16, 2020, offers a snapshot of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on victims and survivors of domestic violence.

Women in the Wake of the Storm: Examining the Post-Katrina Realities of the Women of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast

"This report shares findings garnered from a series of interviews held with a diverse group of women from throughout the Gulf region. In telling their stories, it provides an analysis of women's increased vulnerability during times of natural disasters and lays out policy recommendations that pinpoint how best to address those needs in the wake of this disaster, and in anticipation of the next."

Natural Disasters: Power and Control Wheel

Adapted from the Power and Control Wheel by the Domestic Abuse Intervention Project (Duluth, MN), this graphic depicts common tactics used by abusers to exert power and control over their partners in the aftermath of a disaster.

The Impact of Natural Disasters on Domestic Violence: An Analysis of Reports of Simple Assault in Florida (1999–2007)

Several studies have demonstrated a positive relationship between exposure to natural disasters or other extreme events and rates of interpersonal violence (IPV), and people experiencing IPV in the post-disaster period may face unique barriers, including loss of access to safe housing and a need to remain with family to qualify for or obtain financial assistance and other types of disaster aid. This report assesses the potential association between exposure to natural disasters and reports of IPV.