Pandemic exacerbates New York's domestic violence crisis

During the pandemic, the vulnerability of women and children in New York City became much more apparent. In the midst of a health crisis, victims of domestic violence cannot seek help because the perpetrator is always nearby. The situation was dire even before the pandemic, but the latter has shed light on the real extent of domestic violence. At the same time, funding for relevant assistance programs for 2021 was cut by almost $ 1 million - this is the largest reduction in recent years. About what victims of domestic violence face, the edition told New York Post.

As soon as New York was quarantined due to the coronavirus pandemic, experts warned that skyrocketing unemployment would lead to an increase in domestic violence. Today the numbers confirm this, and reports of domestic violence in some departments have doubled and even tripled in the past few months. “We've never been busier,” laments Nechama Bakst, senior director of the Met Council's family-violence program. “We've seen people who have never experienced violence face it, and people who have faced violence have experienced it even more.”

Typically, a non-profit organization receives about 70 reports of violence per month. However, in April this figure rose to 135 cases, in May - up to 145, in June - up to 146.

“We are seeing more cases of strangulation, more sexual abuse, much more intense and serious crimes,” Bakst said.

Sanctuary for Families, which also works with survivors of violence, has seen a similar increase in calls to its hotline. The organization received 206 calls in May, up from 102 last month. In June, the number of calls more than tripled, reaching 259 compared to 73 last year. “Domestic violence is about power and control,” said Dorchen Leidholdt, director of SFF's Legal Center.

The coronavirus pandemic has given attackers a powerful tool of control because their victims are much closer, often 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with less access to sources of support and assistance, Leidholdt added.

In many cases, the pandemic has become just another tool in the attackers' arsenal, experts say. Some attackers take personal protective equipment from their victims so that they do not feel safe leaving their homes in the midst of a pandemic. In other cases, if an attacker contracted the coronavirus himself, he could blame his partner for it or become physically aggressive, lawyers say. Some may refuse social distancing or handwashing and then “tease” their victims, making them “feel insecure”.

One of these house tyrants warned his victim: "Better beware ... because the courts are closed, so you can't do anything," the SFF said, where they were able to help the injured party get a protection order.

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The high unemployment rate caused by the virus has only made matters worse. This literally "freed the hands" of the criminals, making them even more physically cruel. This increases the risk that such criminals will even commit murder, experts say.

“It was a double tsunami,” Leidholdt said. “On the one hand, the perpetrators were unemployed, angry and cruel like never before, with access to their victims. ... and then the victims were more economically dependent than ever before. "

Thus, the perpetrators were trapped along with their victims, remaining there all day. This has led them to increasingly lock themselves in bathrooms and call support services from there, begging for help while their rapists sleep, said David Greenfield, executive director of the Metropolitan Council, America's largest Jewish charity. dealing with helping those in need.

In response, both the SFF and the Metropolitan Council created a text-based victim hotline as a much safer way to communicate.

Experts noted that the most dangerous moment for a victim is when she tries to leave the intruder, so most escapes are made when intruders leave the house.

With the imposition of quarantine and orders not to leave their homes, escaping has become more difficult and thus more dangerous. This worsened an already bad situation "exponentially," Greenfield said.

In one case, a woman and her children were in a "very, very dangerous" situation with a rapist who kept a gun in the house, Bakst said. The torment of the victims intensified amid the pandemic, and the woman asked the Metropolitan Council to help her and her children get out of the house. “We figured out the time of day, she had literally 15 minutes when she was not being watched,” Bakst recalls. "And in those 15 minutes we agreed on how to get her where she can get out and get to a safe place."

Nevertheless, reaching out a helping hand to many affected people is not easy - and it has become even more difficult in the face of the pandemic. One woman admitted that she is too scared to call 911 because she is afraid that the police will infect her with the coronavirus. “Seeking help outside the home was more difficult than ever because the courts were online and there was a period when NYPD faced their own coronavirus crisis and we didn’t see the same level of response when the victim called 911.” said Leidholdt. She added: "The only way to get help is by phone, and using the phone when you are in close contact with an attacker is almost impossible."

When victims did get an opportunity to ask for help, they used “codes” developed in conjunction with the worker who handled their case. So they could quietly report whether the perpetrator was nearby. “For example, say 'I have to go,' not 'I have to go, he's here,' Bakst explained. “Some people say,“ I have to put dinner in the oven, ”and for the social worker, it means“ For your information, he's here. ”

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For attackers accustomed to targeting vulnerable people, the pandemic paved the way for increased exploitation, Leidholdt said. “Attackers are usually serial criminals. They seek out vulnerable victims and take advantage of the victim's vulnerability, and the coronavirus pandemic has greatly increased the vulnerability of women and children, especially in New York, ”she said. Including, both economically and from the point of view of public health, "where leaving an unprotected environment can lead to illness and even death." “Attackers take advantage of these situations to increase their power and control over their victims,” Leidholdt said.

In the face of the pandemic, Leidholdt and her team are increasingly overwhelmed by appeals from victims of domestic violence. “Even though we were assisted by eight large law firms, we received more calls and clients who needed help than when we could have helped,” says Leidholdt.

Everyone who asked for help eventually got it. However, the nonprofit receives “many more hits” than it can handle. This sheds light on the need to expand services for victims of domestic violence, the firm said.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the real scale of domestic violence in New York City, domestic violence assistance programs have been cut in the budget for fiscal 2021, financial statements show. The cuts include victim support programs and funding for various district attorneys to improve prosecutions even as domestic violence crimes such as murder, rape and assault are on the rise.

Funding for domestic violence programs within the Office of Human Resources Management has been cut by nearly $ 1 million, the largest cut in years, reports show.

While Leidholdt said the cuts could have been much larger, funding was lacking even before the pandemic. “Of course, this is not new, but we see it more during the coronavirus pandemic. The demand for legal services, clinical services, economic empowerment services, and housing-related services is much higher. There are waiting lists for all of these services, ”Leidholdt said. "The sad reality is that they are not entirely adequate."