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State officials and social services advocates are concerned that social distancing measures — including self-quarantine to prevent the spread of COVID-19 — will lead to an increase in domestic and sexual violence across the state.
Sarah Robinson, deputy director of the Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, said that while these measures are important in safeguarding public health, they also can leave vulnerable individuals trapped in violent homes.
“Isolation is how domestic and sexual violence really proliferates, especially when it happens behind closed doors and at a time when community resources and the systems and responses that survivors count on are overwhelmed,” Robinson said. “We absolutely expect that more people will experience domestic and sexual violence during this crisis.”
Some counties have already seen an uptick in domestic violence reports, including Washington County where seven cases have been filed in the last seven days compared to just more than 10 in January and February combined. State’s Attorney Rory Thibault said it’s not certain that social distancing measures and stress about coronavirus are the direct cause of this change, the rate of increase was alarming.
Thibault said the stress of job loss, lack of child care while schools are closed and uncertainty about the future all have the potential to make a difficult situation worse, and with recommended quarantines people will not always have the ability to escape dangerous situations.
Victims’ advocates in Washington County are currently reaching out to people known to be in high-risk situations, and Thibault said the courts are still able to process relief from abuse orders and handle domestic assaults and emergency arrests within their limited emergency operations. However, he said he is concerned about less serious charges that the court will not be able to handle in a timely manner.
“The only category of cases that was specifically laid out in the judicial order was domestic assault or situations where someone is emergency arrested and lodged,” he said. “As time goes on there’s a lot of cases that do not fall into the category of being an emergency that still require attention, for example, violations of abuse prevention orders or cases already in the pipeline.”
Thibault said that although the criminal justice system has adjusted appropriately to the virus pandemic, he still worries about issues of public safety in some cases.
“It’s just going to be those cases that are serious cases but not emergency cases where the friction is most evident,” he said. “There’s tough decisions to be made in those two competing interests of public health and public safety.”
John Campbell, executive director of the Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs, said his office takes all domestic violence cases seriously, especially in times of increased social and economic stress.
“Our main goal is to protect the partner or the spouse that is the victim in these cases and work with local law enforcement and any social agencies in order to make sure the victim has a safe haven to go to if they’re not able to stay in the house,” he said, “and to make sure that if someone is being released into the community who has committed an act of domestic violence to make sure the proper conditions are in place.”
The Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence has 15 partner organizations, at least one in each county, and Robinson said that each is working to prepare for the expected increase in demand for their services. Currently, advocacy organizations across the state are maintaining their 24-hour hotlines and keeping their shelters open while implementing state and CDC health guidelines to prevent the spread of the virus.
Ana Burke, interim executive director of Steps to End Domestic Violence in Burlington, said she has seen an increase in calls seeking help with safety planning measures and asking questions about resources in the last week. While it has closed its administrative office and canceled its support group through early April, Burke said her office is still available to support people over the phone and can be reached through its hotline.
“Our advocacy certainly looks different than it usually does but we are available,” she said.
Burke said the most important step state and local government can take is to ensure that domestic and sexual violence advocacy organizations maintain their funding through this crisis.
Depending on how long the pandemic lasts, Thibault said he is concerned with how the criminal justice system will continue to function at a high level, both when it comes to domestic violence cases and other issues, especially when many systemic reforms like treatment court or reparative boards rely on interpersonal interactions to keep people on the right path.
“What I worry about the most isn’t necessarily how we deal with new cases coming in but we’re really deprived of a lot of our tools,” he said. “The longer this goes on the more I think it’s going to strain all of our systems and typical responses.”
Read the story on VTDigger here: Authorities worry distancing efforts could lead to rise in domestic violence.