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The city of Syracuse has seen an increase in domestic violence since the start of the pandemic.

While public health measures such as stay-at-home orders have helped mitigate the virus’s spread, experts said those same measures have created new concerns for victims of intimate partner violence. As of May, the city had seen a 12% increase in domestic violence calls since the introduction of the New York state economic shutdown.

“We’ve been very concerned from the beginning that the stay-at-home orders were forcing victims of intimate partner and child abuse violence to shelter in place with an abuser,” said Heather Drevna, vice president of communications for the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network. “The crisis has really created a pressure cooker situation for many of those victims.”

New York’s stay-at-home order forced more survivors to stay in the same house as their abusers, said Afton Kapuscinski, a Syracuse University assistant psychology professor and director of the training clinic at SU. Abusers have also become more prone to violent outbursts due to the personal and financial strain brought on by the pandemic, Kapuscinski said.

“(Survivors) may actually be discouraged from getting education or from working by their abusers,” Kapuscinski said. “If they do work outside the home, one of the things that we know is that the domestic violence will often affect their work life, because they might, for example, miss work related to physical injuries or things like that.”

The pandemic and resulting stay-at-home orders also cut victims off from support networks, Drevna said.

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Social distancing measures limited victims’ contact with friends or family, Drevna said. Some shelters that serve domestic violence victims even closed temporarily over concerns of spreading the coronavirus, she said.

In response to the changing circumstances, organizations that support victims of domestic violence have adapted their services to better accommodate for the coronavirus, said Wyatt Mack, a senior advocate with Vera House. Vera House is a Syracuse-based organization that works to end domestic and sexual violence and support survivors.

Soon after the pandemic started, Vera House began using an online chat feature on their site.

“(The online chat is) another way for folks to get in touch with us confidentially and quickly,” Mack said. “There’s an easy way to get out. If, let’s say, your abuser’s in the room and they’re walking up to you, there’s a quick little tab that you can click and you’ll be put into the weather.”

Vera House also operates its own 24-hour hotline and offers legal services and emergency shelter to survivors.

For individuals who believe a family member or friend is a victim of domestic violence, there are ways to help, Kapuscinski said. She said it’s important to keep in mind that leaving an abusive situation can be scary and risky for the victim, and that support from family and friends is important.

“They’re already being told what to do all the time and being controlled,” Kapuscinski said. “It’s better to be open as a resource and an ear, rather than trying to convince someone of what they should do.”

Published on October 12, 2020 at 12:05 am

Contact Abby: avpresso@syr.edu | @abbyvp08