Domestic violence rising during pandemic

Vidya Sethuraman
India Post News Service

As we face rising COVID infection rates, the possibility of additional quarantines rises. Although stay-at-home orders might protect individuals from the virus, home isn’t safe for everyone. In the Dec 4 weekly brief by EMS, the panel explored the questions rarely asked about domestic violence: the causes of male aggression, how women can access the legal system once they are ready to flee, and why the justice system often fails victims of intimate partner violence.

Domestic violence has spiked alarmingly as victims are trapped at home with their abusers amid lockdown orders during the COVID pandemic. At the same time, traditional safety nets have largely been shut down, said the experts. One in 4 women and one in 10 men experience Intimate Partner Violence, and violence can take various forms: it can be physical, emotional, sexual, or psychological. Economic instability, unsafe housing, neighborhood violence, and lack of safe and stable childcare and social support can worsen already tenuous situations. Closures of schools and childcare facilities have added to the stress at home. IPV cannot be addressed without also addressing social factors, especially in the context of a pandemic that is causing substantial isolation.

Black and Native American women are at greater risk for being killed by domestic violence, panelists said, while Black and brown people are less likely to call police in domestic violence situations because of distrust of law enforcement. Shelters are closed or operating at full capacity, and thereby cannot take on new clients. And many courts and law enforcement agencies have severely restricted the scope of their operations since the start of the pandemic. Calls to shelters and hotlines have also increased.

Speakers at the Dec. 4 briefing included Dr. Ravi Chandra – Psychiatrist Ravi Chandra, distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, HaNhi Tran, deputy district attorney in the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office, and Johanna Thai Van Dat, staff attorney at the Santa Clara County’s Family Law Facilitator’s Office/Self Help Center and Fawn Jade Korr – Senior Staff Attorney in the San Francisco office of Bay Area Legal Aid.

The victims of domestic violence must remember not to blame themselves ever for what is happening to them. The perpetrator is 100% responsible and the victims must not find excuses for the actions of the perpetrator. If the victim accepts even one incident of abuse, it may lead to a vicious cycle of abuse.

Fawn Jade Korr, senior staff attorney with Bay Area Legal Aid, spoke about how law enforcement and the legal system often fail victims of abuse, particularly women of color. Responses by judges and law enforcement officers differ depending on the ethnicity of the survivor, she stated. Most of her clients don’t feel support from the police when they call to report a violation of a temporary restraining order by the abuser, or for help in getting him out of the home, stated Korr.

Tran said in Santa Clara County, victims can get help from victims’ advocates at the District Attorney’s office, who will book a conference room at which the survivor can safely listen to court proceedings and advocate for herself. A no contact restraining order removes the abuser from the home until the case is heard. A peaceful contact order allows the offender to remain in the home, but they cannot physically or verbally abuse the victim in any way.