The impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on physical domestic violence: Evidence from a list randomization experiment

• Main Authors: Catherine Porter, Marta Favara, Alan Sánchez, Douglas Scott
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2021-06-01
• Series: SSM: Population Health
• Subjects: Domestic violence; COVID-19; List experiment; Peru
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352827321000677

We quantify the increase in physical domestic violence (family or intimate partner violence) experienced by young people aged 18–26 during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns in Peru. To do this we use an indirect methodology, the double list randomization experiment. The list experiment was embedded in a telephone survey to participants of the Young Lives study, a long-standing cohort survey. We find that 8.3% of the sample experienced an increase in physical violence within their households during the lockdown period. Those who had already reported experiencing domestic violence in the last round of (in-person) data collection in 2016 are more likely to have experienced increased physical violence during the COVID-19 lockdown, with 23.6% reporting an increase during this time. The reported increase in violence does not differ significantly by gender. List experiments, if carefully conducted, may be a relatively cheap and feasible way to elicit information about sensitive issues during a phone survey.