Domestic violence team adapts to COVID barriers
‘Every day there is a case now’ as special response unit sees rise in victims
It was quiet at first — “eerily” so.
For many victims of domestic violence already without a place to turn, the COVID-19 pandemic meant even further isolation.
When the potentially deadly virus began infecting Calgarians in March, far fewer were reaching out for help, either for desperately needed shelter or support from police.
Weeks later, a series of violent incidents sparked a rising need for services provided by the city’s specialized Calgary Police Domestic Violence Team, including stabbings that left people “within a whisker or two of losing their lives,” according to Staff Sgt. Paul Wozney.
There’s no way to prove the life-threatening events were caused by the pandemic, but experts agree that stressors related to the public health crisis can intensify abusive situations and will likely magnify an already disturbing trend in Alberta’s largest city.
About one-third of Calgary homicides were deemed domestic in nature last year, when police responded to more than 26,000 domestic-related calls.
Domestic incidents have dropped by about 18 per cent this year compared with 2019, but Wozney said that speaks to a more unsettling issue at play.
Isolation with an abuser means victims, in many cases, are unable to seek help.
This added barrier caused by COVID-19 has forced the police service’s newly reimagined domestic conflict response team (DCRT), which launched in January, to adapt.
Wozney said the “trial by fire” has led to success.
The DCRT is the first domestic violence response unit of its kind in Canada. Local police have partnered with five community agencies in Calgary — YWCA Calgary, Kerby Centre, Awo Taan Healing Lodge, Calgary Immigrant Women’s Association (CIWA) and the Calgary Women’s Emergency Shelter — to tackle the epidemic of domestic violence plaguing the city.
Rekha Gadhia, who manages family services at CIWA, said the relationship between program partners has strengthened in recent months.
Limited in-person meetings, physical distancing measures and the threat of the novel coronavirus meant communication had to be improved. With speed paramount when reacting to violent incidents, clients and DCRT partners turned to messaging apps for real-time, constant communication.
“It is very positive that we don’t have to go through circles and hoops but we are all connected right away. Right then and there,” said Gadhia. “The (police) are also able to see things first-hand from our lens instead of having to assume and presume why an individual is acting or reacting this way.”
The culturally sensitive lens is crucial, she said.
Newcomers to Canada face unique circumstances such as changing family dynamics, language barriers, and adjusting to new social and cultural norms, all of which affect the way domestic incidents should be understood and managed.
“When I speak about immigrant families, the whole reason they come to Canada — or any country for that matter — is their children’s better future. That’s a green flag that they come with good intention,” said Gadhia.
“The analogy I use is, if you change your pillow or bed, the next day you feel like your back is sore, and these people are changing their lives, leaving their culture behind and everything, and it takes time to integrate.”
With those circumstances comes unknown familial pressures, some of which lead to instances of abuse within the family.
Safety is the top concern of police and CIWA.
Second comes plans to help the victim and perpetrator reach an understanding, whether that means working toward healing the relationship or ending it.
Both options take time, energy and resources.
“We can’t go by a checklist,” said Gadhia.
She, too, said the pandemic limited the availability of options for people to reach out for help.
In one recent instance, Gadhia said a woman’s partner became so violent that she had to lock herself in a room.
Her husband took her phone and started messaging her CIWA counsellor, saying they were “brainwashing” her. CIWA knew instantly to take action.
“It was quiet in the beginning and now it is picking up. Every day there is a case now,” said Gadhia.
Wozney said relying more on community partners has become key to tackling the issue of intimate family violence in Calgary.
“We don’t have to have a police officer there when we introduce a victim to these domestic partners,” he said.
“We can do the referral and we know these people will be in good hands with very competent, educated and articulate domestic violence partners in the community.”
But that’s not to say the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t strained the agencies’ personal relationships with victims and their families, considering in-person meetings are less common.
“That’s something that keeps all of us up at night,” he said.
“We want to make sure we’re still hitting the mark when it comes to addressing that face-to-face contact, because over the years we’ve learned the lessons of domestic violence and to really get into the hearts and minds of people we need to (make contact) very shortly after a domestic event.”
They now have a collection of questions to ask in terms of people’s exposure level, and don personal protective equipment when needed.
The DCRT uses an “equally safe” model, which Gadhia said has been needed for a “long time” to ensure people experiencing domestic violence receive appropriate help.
Calgary police respond to all domestic-related calls and file a family violence intervention report.
It is then sent to a risk assessor and will be assigned to one of three categories.
The early intervention outreach team, made up of trained volunteers, follow up with the family and provide resource information. No police action is required.
Files that are chronic or escalating will be assigned to the DCRT, or Equally Safe, which includes a dedicated police officer and case manager or counsellor from a community agency such as CIWA.
High-risk and violent files are sent to Wozney’s specialized team for strictly police involvement.
No matter the circumstance, if someone calls, the police will come, Wozney said.
As the COVID-19 pandemic drags on, domestic violence experts are preparing for a spike in cases, and more violent ones. Early indications are already showing a prevalent and vicious frequency of incidents.
Wozney said they are prepared to respond.
“As a society, we haven’t come to a point yet where we say, ‘it’s not OK to use financial, physical, sexual coercion to manipulate your spouse,” he said.
“We have to come to that realization as a community.”