As the Covid pandemic enveloped the globe there was a parallel increase in the incidence of domestic abuse (DA). This has been ascribed to the restrictions in movement and growing tensions during lockdown periods. The Domestic Abuse Act for England and Wales, was about to be passed prior to the Covid outbreak, but progress halted as attention focused on managing infection control and treatment nationally. The unfolding DA ‘shadow pandemic’ led to pressure groups lobbying for specific changes to the DA Act which, in its revised form, became law in April 2021. This commentary sets out the changes in definition, statutory response and prevention of DA and relates these to nursing practice. Health education and promotion theory is considered and linked to nursing practice with those who are both victims/survivors and perpetrators of DA.
Bekaert, Sarah Seemungal, FlorenceNott, Emma
Department of Nursing
Year of publication: 2022Date of RADAR deposit: 2022-09-28
“This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in British Journal of Nursing, copyright © MA Healthcare, after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see: https://doi.org/10.12968/bjon.2022.31.20.1046."