Gender-based and intrafamilial violence’s presentation patterns and trends during the first three years of COVID-19’s Pandemic in Colombia: A convergent parallel mixed-methods project

2. Abstract: Introduction: With the social crisis triggered by COVID-19, an increase in gender-based and intrafamilial violence was hypothesized. However, robust evidence quantifying and describing this phenomenon over extended periods, especially in low- and middle-income countries, is lacking. Colombia's case is particularly complex due to its pre-pandemic violence, the continent's longest-running armed conflict, and a refugee crisis from Venezuela. This project has as objectives: 1) to describe gender-based and intrafamilial violence patterns (Study one), 2) to predict the pandemic's impact on gender-based and intrafamilial violence (Study two), 3) to explore barriers and facilitators for victims seeking support (Study three). Methods: This protocol represents an overarching project proposal for three sub-studies. We will conduct a convergent parallel mixed-method project to understand the problem comprehensively. To answer our descriptive objective (Study one), we will conduct a serial cross-sectional study of Colombia´s national epidemiological surveillance records from 2017 to 2022. To answer our predictive objective (Study two), we will conduct a time series analysis using the same datasets and considering the same timeframes. Lastly, to answer our third research objective (Study Three), we will conduct a qualitative study based on in-depth semi-structured interviews. Ethics and dissemination: This protocol was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Charité Hospital – Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany, and by the Colombian Board of the Research Ethics Committee of the Juan N. Corpas University Foundation from Bogotá, Colombia. We will communicate the project’s results to the Colombian and German academic institutions that supported this project, to the national institutions that collected the public health surveillance data, and to different Colombian official and non-official organizations that work helping victims of gender-based and intrafamilial violence and most important of all, with all the interviewers and participants of the qualitative study. The final manuscripts will be submitted to open-access peer-reviewed journals.