April 17, 2020: Even in the best of times, cisgender and transgender women living with HIV are disproportionately vulnerable to intimate partner violence (IPV): 55% report having experienced IPV in their lives, twice the rate of women more generally. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting stay-at-home orders, the danger is exacerbated by financial distress, the inability to get out of harm’s way by leaving the house, and a shortage of many of the mechanisms people escaping IPV typically turn to, such as domestic violence shelters.

While there are no easy answers, PWN, with the support of our partners at National Network to End Domestic Violence, has produced and curated some resources for women living with HIV experiencing IPV (or coping with the trauma of past IPV) and for HIV and IPV service providers that we hope will be helpful during this extraordinarily difficult time.

The IPV/HIV/COVID19 resource center contains information, multimedia resources, and tools for women living with HIV experiencing IPV (or coping with trauma from past IPV) and friends and family who want to help them; for care and service providers; and for advocates who want to advocate for systemic solutions to make women living with HIV less vulnerable to IPV and other forms of violence in the first place. The resources shared include helplines; tools to make safety plans; directories of state resources; recorded webinars; video interviews with survivors of IPV living with HIV; blogs written by survivors that provide important insights on the root causes and effects of IPV and on how an HIV diagnosis and other mental health conditions intersect and complicate safe escape from IPV; and more.

We know the need is great, urgent, and widespread in the current context of a pandemic that is hitting low-income communities the hardest and that necessitates the cancellation of many in-person services and the closure of many facilities that serve survivors of IPV and people living with HIV. If you have good resources that have not been included in this resource center, please send them to communications(at)pwn-usa.org.