COVID-19 and The Rise of IPV

With increased homelessness, unemployment, and overall financial strain, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing vulnerabilities, including economic and social inequalities at the root of IPV and human trafficking, and increased susceptibility to abuse, trafficking and exploitation. As offices cancel and reschedule non-urgent clinic visits and move to telemedicine platforms, safely screening patients for IPV has become more difficult. Data from a major Massachusetts hospital found a significant year-over-year jump in intimate partner violence cases among patients in nearly all women who sought emergency care during the COVID-19 pandemic's first few weeks, by studying the radiology scans at the hospital during the nine-week period after Massachusetts Gov. Charles Baker declared a state of emergency and closed schools in response to COVID-19. 

To understand the full impact the pandemic has had on the complex dynamics of human trafficking will take years to answer. But we do know that children are online significantly more since the pandemic. For 48% of children, screen time has increased by nearly 500% according to a study done by ParentsTogether. Virtual grooming is one of the most common tools predators use to prey on vulnerable young people. On average, a human trafficking victim is sold 15 times per day. The risk to their health and safety is already high. The ongoing pandemic has only increased that risk. The Johns that are buying are actively choosing to put the people they buy for sex at risk, not to mention their wives, children, friends and colleagues. Amongst many other social injustices, human trafficking has always been a public health issue, but that issue has certainly been exacerbated by the pandemic this year. 

Now more than ever, healthcare centers need to equip themselves with the knowledge and awareness to support survivors of IPV and human trafficking as we continue to navigate the “new normal” of service delivery