In a world of mandatory or, at least, strongly encouraged quarantine, many domestic violence victims now must remain in close proximity with their abusers at all times of day.
In response to this situation, Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration announced on Thursday a plan for the expansion of domestic violence and sexual assault resources.
SafeLink, Massachusetts’s 24-hour domestic abuse hotline, will now provide support to survivors of sexual assault. This crisis intervention hotline aims to assist those attempting to set up safety planning measures for themselves or their families.
Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito said during a news briefing that social distancing measures can worsen conditions for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.
“Think of that for just a moment,” Polito said. “Being home, isolating or quarantining or working from home, living with an abuser and the impact that has on your mental and physical abilities.”
Polito added that the administration has been working with organizations like Jane Doe Inc., SafeLink and community providers statewide to provide resources to survivors.
“We want to make clear as part of the work we are doing to stop the spread of COVID-19 and the efforts we are bringing forth across the Commonwealth,” Polito said, “that survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence know that they are not forgotten.”
Meanwhile, local organizations around Massachusetts have worked to adapt to these circumstances.
Kate Deming, development and engagement coordinator for domestic violence prevention agency RESPOND, said her organization had a client who only felt safe if they called for no more than five minutes a day. Because of the coronavirus, she said, other survivors might not even have that.
“Using just those five minutes a day, we were able to coordinate getting them and their children out of the home and into a shelter,” Deming said. “In situations like this where there’s added stresses, abuse can be escalating, and not even having access to those five minutes can make it impossible to access services.”
RESPOND has been flexible in continuing to meet clients’ needs while maintaining social distance, Deming said.
“The majority of services have been moved to really whatever works for our clients,” she said, “so phone, Zoom meetings, email, anything like that.”
Sarah Gyorog, executive director of Transition House, which offers programs for domestic violence survivors, said she expects the number of calls on her organization’s hotline to remain steady or temporarily decrease because survivors may worry about contracting the virus if they leave their homes.
“During a time of a pandemic and stay-at-home order,” Gyorog said, “folks in those situations are probably doing safety planning and they are balancing out the fear of the coronavirus versus an abusive partner.”
While the domestic violence warning signs remain the same regardless of a pandemic, Gyorog said people should reach out to their friends and family members during this time to make sure they don’t feel isolated.
“Isolation is a friend to domestic violence,” Gyorog said, “and we want people to feel the least isolated as possible during a time of forced isolation.”
