How Did the COVID-19 Pandemic Increase Salience of Intimate Partner Violence on the Policy Agenda?
Abstract
:1. Introduction
1.1. Belgian Context
1.1.1. The COVID-19 Pandemic in Belgium
1.1.2. Defining IPV and Related Policies in Belgium
1.2. Aim of the Study and Concepts
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Media Analysis
2.2. Semi-Structured Interviews
2.3. Data Analysis
3. Results
3.1. The Pandemic as a Focusing Event
3.2. A Feminist Political Universe
3.3. Toward a Common Gender-Based Framing of IPV
4. Discussion
4.1. March 2020 as a Window of Opportunity
4.2. Women Policy Entrepreneurs
4.3. NGO Actors as Policy Entrepreneurs
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Respondent | Gender | |
---|---|---|
1 | Representative of the French-speaking hotline domestic violence | Female |
2 | Representative the French-speaking shelter federation | Female |
3 | Representative of Association of Aid to perpetrators | Female |
4 | Representative of the Collective against family violence and exclusion | Male |
5 | Representative of a shelter for women victims of violence | Female |
6 | Representative of Association of Pharmacists in March 2020 | Male |
7 | Representative of the Office of birth and childhood. | Female |
8 | Representative of an « SOS Enfants » team | Female |
9 | Representative of the Department of Public Prosecutions of Liège | Female |
Respondent | Gender | Territory of Action | Competences | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Member of Trachte-Marron ministerial Cabinet | Female | Région Bruxelles-Capitale | Health Promotion, Family, Budget and Public Service. Economic transition and scientific research. |
2 | Member of Linard ministerial Cabinet. | Female | Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles | Childhood, Health, Women’s rights, culture, media |
3 | Member of Morreale ministerial Cabinet. | Female | Région Wallonne | Employment, Formation, Health, Women’s rights, Equal Opportunities |
4 | Member of Ben Hamou ministerial Cabinet. | Female | Region Bruxelles-Capitale | Housing, Equal Opportunities. |
5 | Member of Institute for Gender Equality | Male | Belgium | Federal public institution that promotes equality between women and men. |
6 | Member of Glatiny ministerial Cabinet. | Female | Région Wallonne | Youth welfare, Justice centres. |
7 | Member of the Institute for Equal Opportunities | Female | Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles | Institution of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles that promotes equal opportunities |
8 | Member of the Schlitz ministerial Cabinet. | Female | Belgium | Equal Opportunities, Gender equality and Diversity. |
Themes Covered: | Example of Questions Used: | |
---|---|---|
To start the conversation | Identity of the person, its experiences, and its overview of the IPV sector during the pandemic. | - Could you introduce yourself, your (previous) function? - According to you, how has the pandemic impacted domestic violence and the IPV sector? - … |
Follow-up questions | - First moments of the crisis and adaptations of the sector. - Interactions between actors of IPV sector during the pandemic. - Its participation in the Task Force. | - How was the announcement of the lockdown received in your association/federation/cabinet? - What has been decided at that moment/ what decisions/actions have been taken? - Who were you in contact with? - Have you been warned about the potential issues of the lockdown? How and by whom? - What were your first needs at that moment and how did you reach it? - Could you tell me more about the “Task force violence conjugale et intrafamiliale”? How did it start? How was it organized? Who was part of it? And how would you sum up your experience in this group? - What kind of action has been taken by the Task force? Could you explain these actions in detail? - Who did you collaborate with? - What other actions have been taken as the pandemic progressed? - Now, in hindsight, what do you think about this period? - … |
To end the conversation | - Its look back on the pandemic and its effect on the IPV sector | - What lesson have you learnt from this period? - According to you, is there something important we didn’t discuss? - … |
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Lebrun, L.; Thiry, A.; Fallon, C. How Did the COVID-19 Pandemic Increase Salience of Intimate Partner Violence on the Policy Agenda? Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20, 4461. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20054461
Lebrun L, Thiry A, Fallon C. How Did the COVID-19 Pandemic Increase Salience of Intimate Partner Violence on the Policy Agenda? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2023; 20(5):4461. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20054461
Chicago/Turabian StyleLebrun, Luce, Aline Thiry, and Catherine Fallon. 2023. "How Did the COVID-19 Pandemic Increase Salience of Intimate Partner Violence on the Policy Agenda?" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 20, no. 5: 4461. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20054461