Health care practitioners’ responsibility to address intimate partner violence related to the COVID-19 pandemic

On Mar. 27, 2020, the United Nations issued a statement warning that rates of widespread intimate partner violence (IPV) will increase owing to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, including intimate partner femicides. Measures to minimize the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) reinforce environments that facilitate behaviours used by one person within an intimate relationship to exert power over and inflict physical, psychological or sexual harm on another. The stress of confinement, financial uncertainty, attitudes about gender roles and a desire for control during disasters all contribute to an increased risk of IPV.