Domestic Abuse Harnessing Learning Under COVID-19, 2021

The DAHLIA-19 ('Domestic Abuse Harnessing Learning Under Covid 19') was a research study of policy and practice responses to domestic abuse during the Covid-19 pandemic in four jurisdictions - Australia, Ireland, South Africa and the United Kingdom (UK, covering England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland). All are upper or upper/middle income countries with established domestic abuse services. The overall purpose of DAHLIA-19 was to investigate policy and practice responses to domestic abuse in different jurisdictions during the crisis to harness learning to inform recovery. Data were gathered for this research between November 2020 and December 2021.  The fieldwork was largely desk based with interviews and consultations conducted by telephone or online. Data were gathered in each jurisdiction from a range of sources including documents, interviews with policy and practice stakeholders and experts, and surveys. In each country a 'mapping study' was completed, followed by a more in-depth case study. The findings of all four jurisdictions are also presented in an international synthesis report. 

National responses to domestic abuse under COVID-19 across all jurisdictions were of 4 key types:

• Resources: strengthening pre COVID-19 strategic approaches to domestic abuse;
• Collaboration and cooperation: technologically facilitated developments improving multi-sector ways of working;
• Innovation and adaptation: in direct service delivery and community-led innovations
• Working with perpetrators: new developments

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