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Hindsight is a gift: the ability to reflect on an experience, learn from it, and grow stronger for it. This is especially true after surviving a negative event. Without adversity, resilience is irrelevant.
Between March 2020 and March 2021, the U.S. and its territories experienced the COVID-19 Pandemic in waves of panic, political and racial tension, social and economic upheaval fueled by the media. All eyes and ears were glued to digital screens churning out information, mis-information, and dis-information around the clock. It was a chaotic 12 months. Violence erupted in the streets, and behind closed doors. Curfews, lockdowns, stay at home orders, and quarantine placed people in isolation from support networks: family, friends, co-workers, community. Home is not always a safe space. As a Samoan community member stated in a focus group with the Alliance, ‘violence is when home is not safe.’ The results of the focus group, community feedback, and a rapid literature analysis informed the production of ‘Addressing DVSA During a Pandemic – a Dissemination Plan’ by PRIME Consultants in March 2021. The report promotes community engagement as the primary strategy to disseminate this toolkit of resources to six target groups: general/multi-ethnic public, adults age 18+ with an emphasis on women, youth, service providers, first responders, and decision makers/leadership. The toolkit incorporates the following recommendations proposed by focus group participants in the Alliance’s 2020 Perpetrator Accountability project (Defining Perpetrator Accountability, 2021) and virtual focus group (2020): Press Image to download file. |
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The American Samoa Alliance against Domestic & Sexual Violence was awarded Coronavirus Aid Relief of $80,357 in March 2021.
During the time of COVID-19, the Alliance received an influx of calls for help from domestic violence victims as they shared their stories of violence: an increase of 71% in requests for assistance from female victims. One victim shared: “I’m still stupid enough not to call the police on him even though he held a knife to my face and tried to stab me with it and he told me to open the door or he’ll break it down and cut me into pieces” (personal conversation, April 7, 2020). The following manuscript provides a road map for disseminating information to the American Samoan community that will help victims, their families, service providers, and community advocates prevent and address domestic violence during a Pandemic. It is our hope that gathering relevant information regarding COVID-19, which changes on a daily basis, will help to inform organizations on the best way to stay safe during this and any future Pandemic. Through this project we will be developing a toolkit to be shared with the community. We look forward to sharing the toolkit as well in the near future. |
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The purpose of the document is to analyze published data concerning the intersections of domestic violence and COVID-19 worldwide to inform the development of a culturally appropriate Toolkit of resources, and Dissemination Plan for the Toolkit, to help service providers and advocates address domestic violence in the context of a pandemic.
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Additional Domestic & Sexual Violence Resources |
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About Gender Based Violence Statistics against Asian Pacific Island Women
Types of Gender Based Violence |
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Unpacking myths and facts about sexual violence Ombudsman Press Statement Samoa
National Public Inquiry Into Family Violence In Samoa |
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