Experts concerned isolation will lead to more abuse cases

BENTONVILLE — Domestic abuse experts are concerned the covid-19 outbreak could lead to more abuse cases in Northwest Arkansas, but so far statistics from local law enforcement agencies don’t show a significant increase.

Beverly Engle, executive director of Restoration Village in Little Flock, worries domestic and child abuse may increase because of the pandemic. Unemployment and drinking are already factors in domestic and child abuse, and more stress may be placed on families because of the covid-19 pandemic, she said.

“We probably will see an uprise, but it may take awhile to find out the true statistics,” Engle said.

Eva Terry, development director of Peace at Home Family Shelter in Fayetteville,

shares Engle’s concerns. She believes abuse may increase because of job loss and economic factors, which put more stress on families.

She also worries the outbreak will make it easier for abusers to isolate their victims.

“It’s easier to control someone with the loss of jobs and not being able to see family and friends,” Terry said.

Stacy Seger, development director for the Northwest Arkansas Women’s Shelter in Rogers, noted a marginal increase in the number of calls to the shelter’s crisis hotline over the same time period as last year. The statistic may be misleading, she said.

The hotline received 139 calls in March and 118 calls in March 2019, Seger said.

“I don’t think we can assume that to mean that there hasn’t been an even bigger increase in incidences of domestic violence or sexual assault,” she said. “I believe the numbers could be a bit misleading because during this time of quarantine and isolation, victims may not have the opportunity to reach out due to the constant presence or control of their abuser. They may not have access to a phone or computer to get in touch with us.”

During times of stress or anxiety, and during times when people are confined to one place, domestic violence and assault cases do occur more frequently, Seger said. The control exerted by the abuser may be even more strict while practicing stay at home restrictions, she said.

“We have no real way of now knowing what is happening in private homes until someone comes forward,” Seger said. “That may well happen after covid-19 restrictions are lifted and victims find more freedom or access to phones/computers again.”

Keith Foster, spokesman for the Rogers Police Department, hasn’t seen a drastic increase in calls related to domestic violence, but there has been an increase. There were 46 domestic-related calls from March 20 to April 14, he said. There were 41 calls last year for the same time period. He said there were 17 reports related to domestic abuse from March 20 to April 14 and 14 reports completed last year for the same period.

The Springdale Police Department has handled 150 domestic disturbance calls from March 20 to April 14, said Lt. Jeff Taylor, a spokesman for the department. Police handled 129 cases for the same period in 2019, he said.

Jason Kelley, Bella Vista’s city attorney, said last year the city averaged 24 domestic-related arrests each month. The city had 22 arrests from March 22 to April 8, Kelley said. Kelley couldn’t say whether the increase is related to the pandemic.

Lt. Shannon Jenkins, a spokeswoman for the Benton County Sheriff’s Office, said the office had nine domestic-related cases from March 20 to April 14 and 11 cases for the same time period in 2019.

Gene Page, spokesman for the Bentonville Police Department, said there has been a decrease in accident reports and other calls, but domestic abuse-related calls have remained about the same.

Page didn’t believe the covid-19 pandemic would result in an increase in domestic abuse incidents.

“You are either an abuser or not,” he said. “A pandemic causing you to spend more time with your family is not going to cause you to abuse them.”

Katie Ray-Jones, chief executive officer of the National Domestic Violence Hotline, said she didn’t necessarily expect to see healthy relationships become abusive.

“Our experience informs us that in homes where abuse is already occurring, and there is a negative financial impact or added stress in the home, we typically see a higher frequency of incidents of abuse and increased severity of abuse,” she said.

Ray-Jones said the hotline’s call, chat and text volume remains in the average of 1,800-2,000 per day. She said the hotline is seeing an increase in the number of survivors reaching out who are concerned with covid-19 and how their abusive partner is leveraging covid-19 to further isolate, coerce or increase fear in the relationship.

She said 3,085 survivors contacted the group’s hotline from March 16 to April 12 and cited covid-19 as a condition of their experience.

“We are especially concerned that survivors will be unable to reach out for help due to their abusive partner monitoring the behaviors while they are in isolation,” she said. “We suspect that we may not see a surge in individuals reaching out until shelter in place protocols are lifted, and as people start returning to work or school and are apart from their abusive partners, it will be safe and private to reach out for support.”

Ray-Jones said the usual resources may be unavailable. She’s hearing many shelters in the areas with the largest number of covid-19 cases aren’t taking new clients right now.

Terry and Seger said their organizations are sheltering new clients.

Terry said they have made changes to comply with social distancing. Two families use to share a bathroom, but now one family uses its own bathroom.

She said Peace at Home is still providing legal and counseling assistance, but meetings are now online.

The Women’s Shelter is also taking new clients, Seger said.

“As always, their needs are assessed by our intake advocate, and we take the necessary steps to keep them safe,” she said. “Their immediate physical safety remains our No. 1 concern.”

The Women’s Shelter also shifted to providing counseling and advocacy services via telephone or videoconferencing, Seger said.

“Survivors need to know we are still here and are providing services,” Terry said.

“We are especially concerned that survivors will be unable to reach out for help due to their abusive partner monitoring the behaviors while they are in isolation.” — Katie Ray-Jones, chief executive officer of the National Domestic Violence Hotline