COVID-19 Domestic Violence

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If you or a loved one experienced domestic violence or are currently experiencing domestic violence as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, please email njones@able-sc.org or call 803-779-5121.

Brief describing COVID’s impact on survivors with disabilities:

People with Disabilities COVID-19 Survivor Impact Briefs

• • Published in April 2020
  • What is it: A short informative handout describing how COVID-19 was impacting survivors with disabilities at the time
  • Here are six key points made in the brief:

• • 1. People with disabilities are already at heightened risk for violence and abuse. Isolation can increase the risk of abuse. As stay-at-home orders are lifted, people at higher risk of severe illness from coronavirus, including many people with disabilities, will still need to stay at home to stay healthy. For people experiencing abuse within their home, this can intensify abuse and make it more challenging to get help.
    2. In health care and residential settings which ban anyone deemed “nonessential” due to COVID protocol, anyone experiencing abuse is cut off from family members, advocates, and others who might potentially intervene in the abuse. Some shelters and survivor service providers have also prohibited survivors from bringing personal care attendants or other support personnel when accessing their services.
    3. COVID has increased risks associated with personal care attendants: shortages of healthcare staff resulted in loosened restrictions on background checks and training requirements, and higher instances of caregivers getting sick meant more new/substitute attendants, which introduces a potential for abuse.
    4. Isolation and quarantine due to COVID is triggering for many people with disabilities who have medical and/or institutional trauma.
    5. Access to survivor services for survivors with disabilities was already limited before the pandemic, and COVID has only exacerbated existing barriers.
    6. The limitations and restrictions on some in-person services have posed additional barriers for some survivors with disabilities who have limited access to technology or for whom the technology provided by the service or organization is inaccessible. These limitations have also compromised confidentiality in some situations.

For Service Providers:

One Year Later: Reflections on Sustaining Services for Survivors with Disabilities During COVID-19

• • Published March 23, 2021
  • Description: A video recording of a panel discussion with medical, community, and survivor service providers on the strategies they used to sustain services to survivors with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Available formats: Video recording of webinar, pdf of slides, text transcript of video presentation, text transcript of slides

General Information:

Additional COVID-19 Links and Resources

• • Description: This is a long list that Vera compiled of outside links and resources regarding COVID-19.
  • Topics include:
    • general information about COVID in multiple languages as well as plain language
    • general resources to plan, prepare, and respond to COVID
    • resources for providing remote services
    • resources related to homelessness
    • resources related to DV
    • Resources regarding specific communities
    • wellness and mental health
    • hotlines for survivors