Publication
COVID-19 LGBTIQ+ family violence prevention project: Prevention in the pandemic
December 2020
Between June and September 2020, drummond street’s Centre for Family Research and Evaluation, in partnership with The GAD Pod were funded by Respect Victoria to deliver an LGBTIQ+ family violence prevention research project. The project was commissioned by Respect Victoria in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, an unprecedented disaster which is having a dramatic impact on peoples’ lives worldwide, with early reports that the social and economic impacts are exacerbating imbedded social inequalities.
Responding to a gap in knowledge around the impact of disasters on marginalised communities, this project, Prevention in the Pandemic, sought to build knowledge around the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on LGBTIQ+ people, with a particular focus on LGBTIQ+ family violence. It was designed to assist in the ongoing development of family violence primary prevention policies, programs and resources aimed at addressing LGBTIQ+ family violence in disaster and emergency situations, including pandemics such as COVID-19.
The Centre for Family Research and Evaluation and The GAD Pod partnered for this project, bringing together expertise in LGBTIQ+ family violence research and service delivery and gender and disaster expertise respectively. The research comprised a rapid desktop review and consultations with LGBTIQ+ people and LGBTIQ+ family violence sector professionals.
The aims of the research were:
- To understand some of the ways in which COVID-19/pandemics affect the drivers and risk factors of LGBTIQ+ family violence
- To gain insight into the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic response on LGBTIQ+ people, including for those with intersectional identities, with a particular focus on intimate, familial, caring and domestic relationships
- To prioritise engagement with LGBTIQ+ people with varied intersections of experience and identity including; gender, sexuality, race, disability, health vulnerabilities, age and experience of sex work.
- To produce key findings and recommendations to inform the development of resources for publication by Respect Victoria and other agreed forums.
