Chapter 1: Domestic Violence
Women especially are disproportionately suffering from the negative consequences of the pandemic as there has been an increase in domestic abuse and violence.
Organization to Help: The Met Council
An example of an organization that helps the victims of domestic violence is the Met Council. Although there is a rich history of religious based organizations addressing domestic violence in NYC – The Met Council is the largest charity of the Jewish Communal Social Safety Net in America that contains ten different departments.
The Met Council offers every single client with individualized care “legal advocacy, emergency shelter and relocation, employment assistance, financial assistance, emergency food, entitlement counseling, short-term trauma informed therapy, and information and referral services” (“Family Violence Services”). Furthermore, on the Met Council website, there is a link that redirects someone to a 24/7 emergency hotline and provides access to a texting platform that is monitored by people that have a Master’s degree. This service allows those suffering from domestic violence to contact organizations in need of assistance. An article from the NY-Post, “Domestic Violence Soared During Coronavirus in NYC” written by Gabrielle Fonrouge describes the rise of domestic violence. Fonrouge explains how at the Met Council’s family-violence program, the senior director lamented Nechama Bakst, describes how
“we have seen people who never experienced violence starting to experience violence, and people who have experienced violence experience worse violence” (Fonrouge).
It has become difficult for people to report these abusers as the coronavirus brought a stop to court cases, and brought a system of lockdown. The Met Council’s services highlight the fact that the pandemic led to an increase in domestic violence and are creating new and creative ways to give support.
Research
An article from ABC7, “Coronavirus News: Domestic Violence Up During Pandemic, As WomanKind Aims To Help Victims” states, “In the month before quarantine, there were 3,822 arrests. Between March 29 and April 26, there were 2,157. That’s an arrest drop of 43%” (“Coronavirus News”). There are not many safe options for victims to contact authorities especially on-phone. If victims had the option to text 911, they would be able to safely report their issues. Alena Victor, a licensed social worker described an incident when a client who was “‘on text with us and said go ahead and call 911 on my behalf,” she said.’” (“CoronavirusNews”). Furthermore, on the phone women are creating codes to reflect the status of their situation. For example,
“‘I got to put dinner in the oven’ — and that means to the social worker, ‘FYI he’s here’” (Fonrouge).
These are some of the new ways that organizations and victims are attempting to seek help during the pandemic as lockdowns, and their threat to their lives increase. However, at least now during the pandemic women are able to identify the threats to their lives as domestic violence as women in the past may not have had the same luxury. As domestic violence was not taken seriously as a social issue and organizations like the Met Council did not exist until the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of 1994.
Historical Perspective: Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of 1994
The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of 1994 was under Title IV of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. Statute 34 USC § 12291a(8) produced VAWA that describes the issue of domestic violence and for the grant of programs states,
“felony or misdemeanor crimes of violence committed by a current or former spouse or intimate partner…, shares a child in common, cohabitating with or has cohabitated…as a spouse or intimate partner…jurisdiction receiving grant monies, or by any other person against an adult or youth victim who is protected from that person’s acts under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction (Cornell Law).”
The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) brought “…attention to the issues of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking” (Lynch, 2018) alongside beginning the process of establishing legislation on behalf of the betterment for women. The VAWA allowed for the passing of the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) in 1995 which helped passed pieces of legislation for victims. In addition, the VAWA also prompted the cooperation of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that worked to create grants that would fund programs that target to help support, train, and educate and bring awareness to the victims. The VAWA solidified support for women rights as issues like domestic violence were finally seen as serious issues and different programs and departments like the Office on Violence Against Women and the Department of Health and Human Services.
Concluding Remarks:
In conclusion, domestic violence is still an issue that women around the world face, not just the women of NYC and this issue has become much more deadly and prevalent in homes due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Featured Video:
Watch this quick video to listen to the ideas presented in this chapter: “How you can combat domestic violence during COVID-19” with the critical analysis of the UN Women Specialist Melissa Alvarado.
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About the Contributor
Gadharv Kaur was one of the main contributors to the research done for Chapter 1 which explains the rise of domestic violence due to the pandemic. Read more
