Following the French government’s nationwide lockdown on March 17, emergency calls of domestic abuse to police had spiked by 36 percent in Paris and 32 percent elsewhere in France, Reuters reports. The cases included two murders.
France’s Gender Equality Minister Marlene Schiappa had earlier warned that the lockdown would create a “breeding ground for violence.”
With similar reports coming from elsewhere in Europe, advocates here fear it may be a warning signal for a similar rise in U.S. domestic violence as the disease spreads through this country.
In any domestic violence situation, the most dangerous place for a victim is in their own home. With 3 of 4 Americans under stay at home orders, many advocates are fearing that domestic violence rates will rise, and warn that some cases of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) will turn deadly.
According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, intimate partner violence (IPV) now affects millions of women every year, according to the New York Times.
Erie County District Attorney John Flynn is “bracing for an uptick” in the number of domestic violence cases in upstate New York because of all of the families self quarantining.
Flynn’s concerns stem from the fact that in 2019, Erie County, which encompasses Buffalo, saw 14 domestic violence homicides. He believes that number will surely increase, according to WKWB.
Kim Garrett, CEO of Palomar OKC, Oklahoma City’s family justice center, said, “If you’re quarantined with people for 14 days, it can escalate tension, even among healthy families, especially the fear of the unknown,” as quoted by the Oklahoman.
This is when, Garrett explained, she expected to see a rise in domestic violence situations due to the isolation of families during a coronavirus quarantine.
Oklahoma has struggled with high rates of domestic violence. From 2013 to 2016, it ranked among the six worst states for its rate of women killed by men in single-victim, single-offender incidents.
Internationally, other countries are seeing a rise in domestic violence as well, and unfortunately, some incidents are turning deadly, and advocates say reports in Europe could be a warning of what could happen in the U.S. as COVID-19 continues to spread, according to KOMO News.
To combat the increase in French domestic violence cases, the government announced an additional one million euro ($1.1 million) for “anti-domestic abuse organizations to help them respond to increased demand for services.”
The government also said it would pay for up to 20,000 hotel nights “so that victims can escape abusive partners,” according to Reuters.
The United Kingdom is seeing a similar trend in IPV cases.
Solace Women’s Aid, which helps vulnerable women throughout London, said it had been “inundated with calls before the lockdown.”
But now that families are in lockdown, the lines have fallen silent. Those at the Solace Women’s Aid center believe the number of calls have slowed because “abusers have been more able to monitor a household’s movements,” BBC reported.
Laura Richards, a British Psychologist and Criminal Behavioral Analyst, was recently interviewed on the Real Crime Profile podcast for an episode discussing domestic violence in the U.K.
“[People] are telling police who attend domestic abuse calls that they can’t be arrested ‘because I’ve got coronavirus,’” she said.
Richards went on to clarify that abusers will be arrested.
In the UK alone, in 2018, “173 people were killed in domestic violence-related homicides,” according to data obtained by the BBC from 43 police forces across the UK.
That number is expected to rise this year, advocates say.
At the heart of the COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic, in Wuhan, China, Guo Jing, a female activist, reports that she has personally received calls and messages from “young people living in the quarantined city about witnessing domestic violence between their parents.”
The hashtag #AntiDomesticViolenceDuringEpidemic (“#疫期反家暴#”) has been posted over 3,000 times on the Chinese social media platform Sina Weibo, with thousands of additional tweets using the hashtag, Sixth Tone reports.
For additional resources, background, and information on domestic violence, see The Crime Report’s Resource Page on domestic violence.
The Crime Report has opened a resource file of stories mapping COVID-19’s impact on the criminal justice system to keep you abreast of fast-moving developments. Updated daily. Check it out here.