Domestic Abuse Project of Delaware County is seeing surge of need for service
Since the COVID pandemic has begun to lighten, the Domestic Abuse Project of Delaware County has seen needs for its services surge in unprecedented ways.
Last year, DAP served 459 new clients, responded to more than 3,000 hotline calls to 610-565-4590, which is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and provided clients with 1,234 hours of therapeutic counseling, Julie Avalos, DAP’s executive director, said during a Women’s History Month roundtable discussion Thursday.
In that same time frame, DAP’s safe house shelter served 170 women and children and DAP attorneys provided legal aid to 490 new victims in Delaware County.
In the beginning of the pandemic, DAP saw a drastic decrease in the number of victims who were coming out to access services, Avalos said.
“What that meant to us was a harsh reality of the fact that victims were trapped in their homes,” she said. “They were trapped in their homes with their abusers with the inability to escape, to seek respite or to access services.”
This year, within the first three months, DAP received more than 1,000 calls to its hotline, she added. At this point, she said the hotline is close to reaching 3,000 calls — the entire number of calls received in 2021.
“We are seeing a demand for services have increased more than we’ve ever experienced,” Avalos said. “We are seeing the number of walk-ins and individuals who are needing support come in at numbers we’ve never experienced.”
She said attempted homicides in Delaware County have also dramatically increased.
All of DAP services are provided for free, Avalos added, acknowledging that they realize there are thousands more who aren’t being served.
“We are touching the tip of the iceberg as it relates to the women who are being hurt in our own county,” she said.
The forum featured Pamela Jones-Branch of DAP, survivor and advocate Christine Olley, U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-5 of Swarthmore, and state Rep. Jennifer O’Mara, D-165 of Springfield.
In talking about barriers to reaching those who need help, Jones-Branch said it’s important to recognize that survivors have been and continue to be isolated and have a greater difficulty getting out.
She said physical abuse is only one type that there are many types of abuse, including intimidation and manipulation.
Jones-Branch credited the resilience and strength in those who take the chance to reach out to the Domestic Abuse Project for help.
In addition, she said women aren’t the only ones abused.
“People think that its just women and its not,” she said, adding that it impacts all races, all religions and all genders as well. “There’s a need to really be aware that men are also victims of domestic violence.”
O’Mara, who is also a survivor, stressed the importance of electing women to positions at the local, state and national levels.
“When women are in office, they address different issues,” she said. “They approach issues in a different way. I think we also champion different issues.”
O’Mara said that issues that impact women and families are not being championed unless women are doing it.
Olley and Scanlon spoke about the need to continue having discussions such as this one.
“Make it mainstream,” Scanlon said. “Talk about it. Bring it out of the shadows.”
Jones-Branch agreed the messaging must continue.
“Domestic violence is unacceptable,” she said. “We need to talk not just to our survivors. We need to
say this is not acceptable.”
She said abusers need to be told and recognize they are hurt and are hurting someone else and they need to get help and do better.
Victims, she said, need to hear, “You deserve better. You deserve a safe place to live. You deserve feeling loved and not fear.”
People don’t deserve to be demeaned or intimidated or scared or physically abused, Jones-Branch said, adding that forums, discussions and the work the Domestic Abuse Project does is a critical step.
“This is the place to start making a change,” she said.