Citation

Vahedi L, Stark L, Ding R, Masboungi C, Erskine D, Poulton C, Seff I. Eur. J. Psychotraumatol. 2024; 15(1): e2347106.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2024, The Author(s), Publisher Co-action Publishing)

DOI

10.1080/20008066.2024.2347106

PMID

38722768

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Governmental and non-governmental organizations across medical, legal, and psychosocial sectors providing care to survivors of gender-based violence (GBV) and their families rapidly digitalized services during the COVID-19 pandemic. GBV prevention/response services working with women and children who are forcibly displaced and/or living in low-and-middle income countries (LMIC) were no exception to the rapid digitalization trend. Literature is lacking a critical synthesis of best practices and lessons learned since digitalization replaced major operations involved in GBV prevention/response.

OBJECTIVE: This research qualitatively investigated how GBV service providers, located in a range of socio-political settings, navigated the process of digitalizing GBV prevention/response during the COVID-19 crisis.

METHOD: Semi-structured key informant interviews (KII) with GBV service providers in varied sectors were implemented virtually (2020-2021) in Brazil, Guatemala, Iraq, and Italy (regarding forcibly displaced women/girls for the latter). Participants were recruited using purposive and snowball sampling. Interview guides covered a range of topics: perceived changes in violence and service provision, experiences with virtual services, system coordination, and challenges. The KIIs were conducted in Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, and Italian. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and translated into English. The research team conducted thematic analysis within and between countries using a structured codebook of data driven and theory driven codes.

RESULTS: Major themes concerned the: (1) spectrum of services that were digitalized during the COVID-19 crisis; (2) gender digital divide as a barrier to equitable, safe, and effective service digitalization; (3) digital violence as an unintended consequence of increased digitalization across social/public services.

CONCLUSION: Digitalization is a balancing act with respect to (1) the variety of remotely-delivered services that are possible and (2) the access/safety considerations related to the gender digital divide and digital violence.

Language: en

Keywords

*COVID-19/prevention & control; *Digital Technology; *Gender-Based Violence/prevention & control; *Qualitative Research; *Refugees; Adult; brecha digital de género; Developing Countries; digital violence; digitalización; digitalization; Domestic violence; en línea; Female; GBV; gender digital divide; Humans; LMIC; Male; online; PIBM; refugee; refugiado; remote services; Resource-Limited Settings; SARS-CoV-2; servicios a distancia; Telemedicine; violence against women; violencia contra la mujer; violencia de género; violencia digital; Violencia doméstica