How Frontline Domestic and Family Violence Workforce in Australia Kept Connected to Their Clients and Each Other Through the Pandemic
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How frontline domestic and family violence workforce in Australia kept connected to their clients and each other through the pandemic. Practitioner report Executive summary Australia, like most countries, introduced strict infection control measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 after it was declared a pandemic on the 11th of March, 2020. People’s movement was restricted through physical Practitioners acknowledged that it has been distancing, border closures and mandatory lockdowns. challenging for them to adjust to COVID-19 Many businesses and schools also closed down. There conditions. They felt the added stress of being have been international concerns that these restrictions an essential worker in a pandemic on top of have put people at increased risk of experiencing already being on the frontlines of the DFV domestic and family violence (DFV) whilst also reducing epidemic. Practitioners also found it challenging their capacity to seek help. Services have had to adapt to adjust to remote working because of the Report prepared by and innovate to find ways to continue to connect to at risk collision of work and home life, vicarious trauma, report clients whilst staying COVID-19 safe. There are concerns School of Population Health UNSW fatigue, and professional isolation. On the that adjusting to challenging work conditions has and will Research team: Dr Patricia Cullen, Ms Rachel Baffsky, other hand, practitioners highlighted that some continue to take a toll on practitioners’ wellbeing. Dr Kristen Beek, Dr Sarah Wayland COVID-19 adaptations/innovations have been This report presents the findings of a nation-wide study of valuable and that they would like to see these the experiences of frontline DFV practitioners in Australia carried forward into the ‘new normal’. These SuggestedPractitioner citation during the early months of COVID-19, funded under are listed below as recommendations to inform UNSW’s Rapid Research Initiative. The study explores future service responses. Cullen, P., Baffsky, R., Beek, K., & Wayland, S. (2020). the perceived impacts of COVID-19 on clients, service How frontline domestic and family violence workforce adaptations and innovations, and the challenges faced by in Australia kept connected to their clients and each frontline staff. We draw on insights gained from interviews other through the pandemic: Practitioner report. with 50 practitioners from DFV services between July and School of Population Health UNSW October 2020. Our interviews revealed that clients’ experience of Acknowledgements DFV changed during COVID-19. The demand for DFV services mostly increased, with the exception of shelters We gratefully acknowledge funding from the UNSW where demand initially decreased. The study highlights COVID-19 Rapid Response Research Initiative, and Recommendations that DFV has become more complex and escalated support from the Australian Human Rights Institute, in intensity during COVID-19. Practitioners spoke about > Flexible working including a blend The George Institute for Global Health, the investigators how COVID-19 has been used as a tactic for DFV, and of working from home and working of the COVID-19: Understanding the sex and gender that monitoring and technology abuse appear to have on site dimensions on women’s health and wellbeing project worsened during lockdown. and the investigators of the Weathering the storm: > Support for wellbeing initiatives Australia’s responses to domestic and family violence Practitioners felt that services did well to adapt and > Online and telehealth options during the COVID-19 pandemic project. innovate to stay connected with clients under these for clients circumstances. The four most common service We sincerely thank all the participants who generously adaptations were 1) shifting to outreach models of > Online meetings with colleagues shared their experiences working on the frontline of care 2) implementing infection control 3) telehealth from other services domestic and family violence supporting people, families and digitally enabled service delivery and 4) remote and communities in Australia. legal support and advocacy. Where possible, frontline practitioners worked remotely in the early months of the pandemic. 2 3 Many countries including Australia introduced strict control measures including the closure of borders, people-facing-businesses and most schools. Most states of Australia went into lockdown where individuals were unable to leave their home for reasons other than essential work, exercise, shopping and medical supplies. Physical distancing of 1.5 m was mandated in public spaces. These control measures have been largely effective at curbing the spread of COVID-19 in Australia. However, there have been substantial social and economic implications that have perpetuated and amplified existing inequities. An estimated 28% of Australian families have Background suffered losses in jobs or incomes due to business closures and economic downtown (1). Social isolation, fears of COVID-19 and uncertainty in the changing global situation have also had a negative impact on people’s The WHO declared mental health (2). Drug and alcohol consumption Australian Human Rights Institute COVID-19 a pandemic on also increased during lockdown (3). the 11th of March 2020. report How has COVID-19 impacted heightened risk factors for DFV during COVID-19, it seems unlikely these statistics domestic and family violence? reflect the true state of affairs. A more feasible explanation is that social isolation Practitioner > There was almost immediate speculation measures meant reduced opportunity to that COVID-19 mitigation measures would report DFV when confined at home with the have a negative impact on domestic and perpetrator. There is also speculation that family violence (DFV) in Australia. COVID-19 physical movement restrictions > It was anticipated DFV would escalate as made it difficult for people experiencing DFV victim/survivors were confined at home to action safety plans, as they could not seek with perpetrators of violence and abuse, and temporary accommodation with family or families faced increased stressors related friends, were reluctant to enter communal to job losses, anxieties and fears around the DFV crisis accommodation, and many such pandemic, food shortages, school closures, services had restrictions on the number of social isolation and increases in alcohol and people they could accommodate. drug consumption (4-6). > Two thirds of women who experienced > The Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research physical or sexual violence reported it was (BOCSAR) showed that the incidents of DFV either the first incidence of violence or an reported to the police decreased between escalation of previous violence (8). March and April, 2020 when New South Wales (NSW) was in lockdown (7). Given the 4 5 Is domestic and How are services responding? How has COVID-19 impacted family violence being Research shows that DFV services worldwide frontline staff? are using similar adaptations and innovations underreported? There is emerging evidence worldwide to to stay connected to clients during suggest COVID-19 has had a negative impact There is evidence of underreporting DFV in COVID-19, including: on the wellbeing of frontline workers in the Australia from a research survey study of > Transitioning from face-to-face to telehealth/ DFV sector. women’s experience of DFV during COVID-19. digital service delivery where possible. Video > A UN study found that staff are feeling > Fifty-six percent of the women who reported calls, DFV hotlines, web chats, apps and text stretched and overwhelmed as they work experiencing DFV between February – May are being used to connect to clients (13- extended hours to meet the increasingly 2020 (the height of COVID-19) said the police 15). A study of practitioners in Queensland, complex needs of their growing clientele (4). had not been notified about the incident (8). Australia, identified many benefits of this Practitioners in Victoria, Australia, have said telehealth/digital transition including the > Fifty-eight percent of women who they were often working unpaid overtime, removal of geographic, time and transport experienced physical or sexual violence not taking regular breaks and were left barriers to accessing services (16). On the and/or coercive control reported at least feeling fatigued (17). other hand, researchers and practitioners one incident where they did not seek help caution that clients’ safety and privacy > Practitioners have reported that remote because of safety concerns about reporting is at risk when they access telehealth/ working has added to their mental health DFV during COVID-19 when there was digital services at home where they can burden and blurred the boundaries between high risk they were being monitored by be monitored by the perpetrator (13). their personal and professional lives (14, 16, the perpetrator (8). Furthermore, practitioners are worried they 17). Staff have reported feeling they are on are missing valuable information about call 24/7 as clients now communicate with Who is most at risk? clients’ risk level over the phone and internet them via mobile phone (13). There are also where it is harder/not possible to read non- concerns that remote working has had a There is evidence that some groups of verbal cues (16, 17). negative impact on staff’s mental health people may be at increased risk of DFV as they experience social isolation and > Strict infection control measures have been during COVID-19,