As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in New York City, both Mayor de Blasio and Gov. Cuomo have suggested that another shutdown could be around the corner in the coming weeks. During the previous lockdown, a surge in domestic violence incidents became an unintended, though predictable, consequence of this public health safety measure, and it’s something New York leadership must guard against before ordering another pause.
As of October, 45 New Yorkers have been killed this year in domestic violence acts, including three people over the course of 10 days — one of whom was pregnant. While that’s nearly a 20% decline from the same period in 2019, through September 2020, the NYPD responded to 145,506 radio-dispatched calls for domestic violence incidents, a 3% increase from 141,148 in the same period last year. And the department has cautioned that pre-existing underreporting of domestic violence calls likely worsened during the pandemic — so things are even worse than these numbers suggest. It is fair to assume that, as victims were isolated with their abusers, many focused on meeting basic needs rather than stopping the abuse. Or, in many cases, prevented them from reaching out for help.
From the beginning, experts and advocates cautioned that limiting personal movement and confining people to their homes could potentially increase intimate partner violence. For many, the greatest danger looms where they should be safe — at home. We cannot ignore that current public health measures can create an opportunity for abusers to terrorize their victims. We need to adjust to fit the needs of these vulnerable women.
When lockdowns started overseas, many countries recognized the breakdown in support and expanded their victim services, implementing new intervention measures for women to use when seeking help.
In France, victims are encouraged to go to pharmacies and use the safe word “mask 19” as a way to ask for help discreetly. Greenland’s capital of Nuuk banned the sale of alcohol for the duration of its lockdown. And in Italy, local governments turned hotels into domestic violence shelters so victims could quarantine safely.
During the last lockdown, calls to the New York State domestic violence hotline spiked by 30%. The system was upgraded to allow victims to receive support through a texting service to make it easier for women to get help and escape potentially dangerous situations. In June, New York City’s 911 texting system was implemented but not advertised. Sprint cell phone users can text photos and videos under this new system, but other carriers can’t support that functionality.
There is no time to waste. The city needs to launch a citywide awareness and social media campaign, letting New Yorkers know the 911 texting system is up and running, and encouraging those who are isolated with their abusers and feel as though they are in danger to use it to call for help. This campaign could go one step further and partner with city-based victim services organizations to inform residents of the confidential online resources available to them.
And while a good first step, the 911 texting system is not enough. We need to consider alternative methods that can be used discreetly in any situation. It is not uncommon for abusers to hold technology hostage. For that reason, the city should mirror initiatives used in France and implement a “safe word” victims can use at essential businesses, like grocery stores. These strategies are proven to save lives, and we are behind on deploying them.
We must also consider situations where abusers confine their victims to the home and prevent them from leaving, which is easy to accomplish during a stay-at-home order. These victims need to know there is a way out. The city should encourage victims to use the “safe word” when contacting food or pharmaceutical delivery services; the use of both has increased during the pandemic.
Finally, the city should also work with victim-service organizations to develop a training guide for employees of an essential business with steps on what to do if a victim approaches or messages them and how to spot warning signs of abuse.
Domestic violence was already a public health crisis before COVID-19, exacting a terrible physical, psychological and generational toll on so many vulnerable people. It is undeniable that movement restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the virus have made the domestic violence crisis worse. By putting this infrastructure in place now, we will be creating additional outreach channels for victims of domestic violence to use even after we flatten the curve.
