Shifting the Focus: Safety Planning with Survivors of Intimate Partner Abuse During COVID-19
This webinar will explore the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic stay-at-home orders for survivors of partner abuse, their families, communities and the advocates who serve them. Safety from abuse is most often conceptualized as separation from an abuser, but with shut downs and social distancing orders in place, movement is restricted and access to familiar institutional resources, such as emergency shelter space, courts and restraining orders is limited. Under these circumstances, COVID-19 has caused a shift in focus to consideration of other, less mainstream options for safety. This creates an opportunity that centers the needs of diverse survivors, re-imagines the role of advocates and communities, brings vital resources into sharper focus and re-visits what it means to be empowered towards safety and autonomy. These opportunities may serve us well in understanding and crafting safe options for survivors, even beyond this current moment.
