Coordinated by ISPUP researcher José Peixoto Caldas, the project is entitled The Impact of SARS-CoV-2 on the Social Determinants of Gender Violence: Proposals for Action and Intervention and was funded under the “Gender Research 4 COVID-19” support line.
The study aims to characterize the impact of the pandemic on the social determinants of gender violence in the most vulnerable parishes of the city of Porto. To this end, a sample of women, who have been involved in episodes of gender (domestic) violence, before and/or during the pandemic, and who live in more socioeconomically vulnerable parishes of the city of Porto, will be analysed.
As the coordinator explains, “with the pandemic of COVID-19, reports of domestic violence have increased in several European countries. However, when we look at Portugal, and specifically the period during which the compulsory confinement measures were in force, we observed a particularly sharp drop in reports of domestic violence (33 per cent less), according to the Police Force (PSP)”.
“Now, why did this decrease occur? Could it be that the women victims did not have the opportunity to make denunciations? We want to clarify the issue with this project”, he adds.
Through the Department of Investigation and Penal Action of the district of Porto, researchers will have access to a sample of enquiries on complaints of gender violence, filed between 1 January and 30 June 2020. The aim is to cover the period before the beginning of the pandemic and during it, in order to establish comparisons.
Interviews will also be conducted with women victims who requested social support in the most vulnerable parishes of Oporto. The health and social support professionals who assisted them will also be interviewed.
Proposals for Action and Intervention
After the first phase of identification and characterization of the social determinants of gender violence in the city of Oporto, the researchers will, in a second phase of the project, propose training actions for technicians and municipal officials and prepare interventions with women victims of gender violence.
For José Peixoto Caldas, “the proposals for action and intervention are a fundamental dimension of this study. We want to use the knowledge we will obtain, through the analysis of the surveys and interviews, to propose concrete actions with the people involved in the complaint and support processes”.
Thus, training actions will be developed for health professionals, health unit administrators, social service technicians and DIAP staff, as well as active interventions with women who are victims of domestic violence.
“The aim is to develop a system of social-assistance surveillance, support and empowerment in crisis situations, thus assisting the municipality and the centres for assistance to victims of gender violence,” concludes the ISPUP researcher.
Researchers from the University of Vigo, the Instituto Universitário da Maia (ISMAI), the Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública/FIOCRUZ and the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos de Madrid also participate in the project financed by FCT.
About “Gender Research 4 COVID-19”
The FCT, in conjunction with the Secretary of State for Citizenship and Equality, and with the support of the Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality (CIG), grants special support, designated “GENDER RESEARCH 4 COVID-19”. According to the FCT website, the support is intended for “projects and initiatives that enable the production and dissemination of knowledge about the gender impacts of the pandemic caused by COVID-19 and the dissemination of contingency plans and measures adopted to contain and resolve it.
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