With the country being ordered to stay home over the last couple of months due to COVID-19, this has consequently led to an increase in domestic abuse occurrences.
In our local market of San Antonio alone, domestic violence related calls have risen by 21% from 2019 to 2020 year to date, according to SAPD.
While this statistic is alarming and saddening at the same time, it’s important to know that help is still available to people who need it.
So why is this the case?
Domestic Abuse Is More Likely to Occur During a Pandemic
When lockdowns first began in effort to slow the coronavirus spread, there were not as many reports being made of domestic abuse. Though behind the scenes, cases were actually spiking in reality.
The CEO of the National Domestic Violence Hotline stated that this is because it’s not as easy for victims to report abuse during stay home orders. Reasoning? Their abusers were always around them.
While domestic abuse has always been a problem, constantly being in the presence of abusers has led to an increase in occurrences.
What’s worse, abusers are also using the COVID-19 pandemic to force control over their victims through scare tactics. Among these scare tactics include:
- Sharing misinformation about the pandemic to control or frighten victims;
- Preventing victims from seeking medical attention if they need it;
- Forcing victims to stay in the house or confined to a space within;
- Threatening to leave victims out of the house in order to increase risk of coronavirus exposure;
- Among several other ways.
What’s more is that abusers are also using this as an opportunity to release their anxiety on their victims. Consequently, this causes suffering to all those living in the household.
This includes children who are also more subject to abuse since they are not physically at school during the day and are more often around an abusive parent.
Help for Victims of Domestic Abuse
Though stay at home orders are meant to keep people safe, for many it feels like quite the opposite. The COVID-19 pandemic does not give abusers an excuse to further harm their victims. Though the coronavirus crisis is unprecedented, help is still available for people who need it.
And while it’s true that the courts are physically closed for the time being, emergency orders are still able to be granted online.
The most important thing is to not wait. Acting promptly is the best thing any victim can do to help themselves and their children in a situation like this. Domestic abuse is something no person deserves.
Remaining Here for You Amid COVID-19
If you have experienced domestic abuse in your own household during COVID-19 stay home orders, we want you to know our firm is still available to help. We have helped many families who have fallen victim to domestic abuse and can help you establish the proper restraining orders to help keep you safe from an abuser.
If you are in this situation, we encourage you to contact us. Together, we will get through this.