The Jewish Voice: Domestic Violence Skyrocketed During Coronavirus Lockdown

This article originally appeared on The Jewish Voice and was authored by TJV News.

Data has revealed that New York’s coronavirus shutdown set the stage for increased exploitation.  Families were forced to stay home together continually, and sadly, this led to an exponential rise in domestic violence throughout the five boroughs.  When the outbreak first hit, experts expected that the mandatory lockdowns and bolstering unemployment would lead to an increase in household abuse.  As reported by the NY Post, now, the data is available to prove they were right.   Some agencies are revealing that reports of domestic-violence doubled or even tripled over the last several months.  “We’ve never been busier,’’ said Nechama Bakst, senior director of the Met Council’s family-violence program.  “We have seen people who never experienced violence starting to experience violence, and people who have experienced violence experience worse violence.”

’In an average month, the non-profit usually sees roughly 70 new cases.  In April, however, the program struggled to help 135 new cases.   Again in May, there were 145 more cases, and then 146 more in June, as per the organization.  “We see more choking, more sexual violence, kind of much more intense and serious acts of crime,’’ the director lamented to The Post.

Sanctuary for Families, another organization which works with survivors, similarly reported a jump in calls to its helpline.  The group, which has its headquarters in Manhattan and operates five shelters throughout the five boroughs, said that it received 206 calls in May, compared to 102 last year in the same time frame.  In June, their calls more than tripled, with 259 calls compared to 73 in June of 2019.

“Domestic violence is fundamentally about power and control,” said Dorchen Leidholdt, director of SFF’s Legal Center. “The coronavirus pandemic gave abusers a powerful tool of control because their victims were in much closer proximity to them, 24/7 in many cases, and had less access to sources of support and assistance.’’