Selecting a topic for a research paper is quite a daunting task. I think it is crucial for the chosen topic to be current for the research to shed light on the critical social problem that has not yet been addressed or has been addressed poorly. For this research paper, I want to focus on the topic of the impact COVID-19 had on society. Specifically, I would like to research the effect of the worldwide pandemic on the rise of intimate partner violence (IPV). I selected this topic as it illustrates how a public health emergency can draw attention from and intensify another public health problem.
The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly impacted all areas of life and has affected most individuals. It should be noted that the measures enforced by the government in order to limit the spread of COVID-19 helped combat the pandemic but translated into other public health problems being exacerbated. According to Agüero (2021), stay-at-home policies led to a gradual increase in IPV, particularly domestic violence against women. Thus, victims of IPV were forced to continue to cohabitate with their abusers and were exposed to further violence against them. It should be considered that loss of employment due to COVID-19 by either the victim or perpetrator of IPV may have translated into financial abuse and mistreatment that may be regarded as one of the forms of IPV (Lyons & Brewer, 2021). Moreover, the pandemic-related policies limited the ability of IPV victims to reach out to their support systems and critical services, including health care and law enforcement, and restricted the capacity of the latter to respond timely (Moreira & Da Costa, 2020). Overall, the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on IPV is an interesting topic for research.
References
Agüero, J. M. (2021). COVID-19 and the rise of intimate partner violence. World Development, 137, 1–7.
Lyons, M., & Brewer, G. (2021). Experiences of intimate partner violence during lockdown and the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Family Violence, 2021, 1–9.
Moreira, D. N., & Da Costa, M. P. (2020). The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in the precipitation of intimate partner violence. International journal of law and psychiatry, 71, 1–6.