Intimate partner violence (IPV) causes substantial physical and psychological trauma. Restrictions introduced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including lockdowns and movement restrictions, may exacerbate IPV risk and reduce access to IPV support services. This cross-sectional study examines IPV during COVID-19 restrictions in 30 countries from the International Sexual HeAlth and REproductive Health (I-SHARE) study conducted from July 20th, 2020, to February, 15th, 2021. IPV was a primary outcome measure adapted from a World Health Organization multicountry survey. Mixed-effects modeling was used to determine IPV correlates among participants stratified by cohabitation status. The sample included 23,067 participants from 30 countries. A total of 1,070/15,336 (7.0%) participants stated that they experienced IPV during COVID-19 restrictions. A total of 1,486/15,336 (9.2%) participants stated that they had experienced either physical or sexual partner violence before the restrictions, which then decreased to 1,070 (7.0%) after the restrictions. In general, identifying as a sexual minority and experiencing greater economic vulnerability were associated with higher odds of experiencing IPV during COVID-19 restrictions, which were accentuated among participants who were living with their partners. Greater stringency of COVID-19 restrictions and living in urban or semi-urban areas were associated with lower odds of experiencing IPV in some settings. The I-SHARE data suggest a substantial burden of IPV during COVID-19 restrictions. However, the restrictions were correlated with reduced IPV in some settings. There is a need for investing in specific support systems for survivors of IPV during the implementation of restrictions designed to contain infectious disease outbreaks.

Amref International University Nairobi Kenya

Botswana Sexual and Reproductive Health Initiative Botswana Harvard AIDS Institute Partnership Gaborone Botswana

Center for Population Family and Health University of Antwerp Belgium

Center for Sexual and Reproductive Health University Hospital Doctor Peset Valencia Spain

Center of Population Sciences for Health Equity Florida State University Tallahassee FL USA

Centre for Reproductive Health University of Edinburgh Edinburgh UK

Clinical Research Department Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine London UK

Collaboration for Evidence Research and Impact in Public Health School of Population Health Curtin University Perth Australia

Department of Education Sciences University of Oviedo Oviedo Spain

Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care School of Clinical Medicine University of Witwatersrand Johannesburg South Africa

Department of Genomics and Proteomics Gorgas Memorial Institute for Health Studies Panama City Panama

Department of Psychology and Life Sciences Faculty of Humanities Charles University Prague Czech Republic

Department of Psychology University of Basel Switzerland

Department of Public Health and Primary Care Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences University of Ghent Belgium

Department of Social and Preventive Medicine Faculty of Medicine University of Malaya Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

Dermatology Hospital of Southern Medical University Guangzhou China

Division of Infection and Immunity University College London London UK

Faculty of Medicine and Psychology Sapienza University of Rome Rome Italy

Faculty of Psychology University of Buenos Aires Buenos Aires Argentina

Health Systems Strengthening Division Foundation for Professional Development Pretoria South Africa

Hospital for Tropical Diseases University College London Hospital London UK

Institute for Health and Behaviour Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences University of Luxembourg Esch sur Alzette Luxembourg

Institute for Sex Research Sexual Medicine and Forensic Psychiatry University Medical Center Hamburg Eppendorf Hamburg Germany

Institute for Sexual and Gender Health University of Minnesota Medical School Minneapolis MN USA

Institute of Child Health College of Medicine University of Ibadan and University College Hospital Ibadan Nigeria

Institute of Child Health University of Ibadan Ibadan Nigeria

Institute of Global Health and Infectious Diseases University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill NC USA

Karolinska Institutet Department of Global Health and Department of Women's and Children's Health Stockholm Sweden

Laboratory of Evolutionary Sexology and Psychopathology National Institute of Mental Health Klecany Czech Republic

Mbarara University of Science and Technology Mbarara Uganda

National Research System National Secretariat of Science Technology and Innovation Panama City Panama

Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health National University of Singapore Singapore

School of Public Health Faculty of Health Sciences University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg South Africa

South General Hospital Stockholm Sweden

University of North Carolina Project Guangzhou China

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