OTTAWA The Ottawa Hospital saw fewer domestic violence and sexual assault survivors seek emergency medical treatment during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ottawa Hospital Sexual Assault and Partner Abuse Care Program typically sees 60-80 patients over a two-month period. A new study from the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute shows 34 people visited the emergency department for treatment in the first two months of the pandemic. We were concerned about the rising risk of violence during the lockdown, and wanted to investigate how the pandemic was affecting access to emergency care for survivors of sexual and domestic violence, says Dr. Katherine Muldoon, lead author of the study and senior research associate at The Ottawa Hospital.
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A new study shows emergency department admissions for sexual assault and domestic violence dropped “drastically” at The Ottawa Hospital in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The number of cases treated at the hospital decreased by about 50 per cent in the first two months of last year’s lockdown when compared to the same period in 2018, the study found.
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Published Thursday in the BMC Medicine online journal, the research has raised concern that women are suffering in silence and not seeking treatment.