RAISING AWARENESS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

3% increase in local incidents for same time frame in 2019

Federal prosecutors and district attorneys from across California joined forces last week to raise awareness of what they described as a worsening problem of domestic violence during the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic has “exacerbated the already serious problem,” Robert Brewer, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California, said Thursday during a Zoom news conference.

The circumstances of the pandemic “appear to have unleashed more domestic violence in the home with victims feeling trapped with their abusive partner and children as collateral victims,” San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan said in a statement.

Anne Marie Schubert, district attorney in Sacramento County, said her office has seen a 39 percent increase in referrals from law enforcement agencies for domestic violence prosecutions.

“That’s disturbing not just because it’s a rise in numbers, but we also know it’s underreported,” Schubert said during the Zoom event.

Local statistics have been less clear about the pandemic’s effect. A San Diego Association of Governments report found an overall 3 percent increase in domestic violence incidents between January and June 2020 compared to the same period in 2019.

But the data showed the increases were largest in January, February and March, before and at the beginning of the pandemic, while the reported incidents decreased in April and May, when some of the strongest local stay-home and shutdown orders were in place.

Reported incidents increased slightly in June, though the jump was not as significant as those during the first three months of the year.

The prosecutors released a public service announcement as part of the awareness campaign and urged those in need to seek help. Local resources can be found at www.preventdv1.org. The National Domestic Violence Hotline is (800) 799-7233.

alex.riggins@sdunniontribune.com