‘Staggering’ increase in domestic violence calls in Hartford region during coronavirus pandemic

The number of domestic violence victims seeking guidance and refuge during the coronavirus pandemic, particularly those reaching out for the first time, is up significantly, victims’ advocates say.

“The increases are staggering,” Interval House President Mary-Jane Foster said Tuesday.

From April through June, the number of clients at the Hartford-based agency rose by 25% over the same period in 2019, Foster said. Many of those new callers were weighing options about how to stay safe as pandemic-related stressors such as isolation and income loss swelled, she said.

The agency serves Hartford and 23 surrounding communities. High-risk cases are up, Foster said, especially in the capital city, and “anecdotally, the frequency and intensity of incidents is increasing.”

“The pandemic has/is producing what we, unfortunately, expected,” she said.

Police in the region say they are getting more domestic violence calls. In Manchester, calls between June 1 and July 31 of this year were up about 33% over the same period in 2019, police spokesman Lt. Ryan Shea said.

Other area police departments provided figures comparing April through June of this year with the same period last year. In Vernon, police received 85 calls in the three months this year compared with 57 last year. East Hartford police reported an increase from 78 to 82 calls in the same comparison. Glastonbury police investigated 23 family violence offenses in April, May and June of this year compared with 20 offenses in the same period last year.

Under the Lethality Assessment Program, a partnership between police and domestic violence agencies, officers screen victims for potentially fatal abuse. When a screening shows “high danger,” police offer to connect the victim with a domestic violence advocate, which the victim may decline.

Figures comparing March to June of this year with the same period last year show a 7% rise in screenings and a 9% increase in calls by police to advocates, the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence (CCADV) reported. High danger screening results throughout the state remained consistent, according to the umbrella organization for the state’s 18 domestic violence agencies.

Remote advocacy

Agencies have shifted to remote advocacy during the pandemic, communicating with many victims and survivors by phone, email, text and online meetings.

In April, May and June of this year, the CCADV tallied 30,861 calls -- both calls to agencies and advocates’ calls out -- compared with 17,059 total calls in the same period last year.

In-person contacts declined by 69%, while email increased 21% and other forms of communication, including texting, rose by 282%.

“This pandemic has shown us that there is a space for new ways of connecting with victims and survivors that meet them where they’re at,” CCADV CEO Karen Jarmoc said. “We know that it can work.”

When the state judicial system closed many courthouses as the pandemic worsened, the courts continued processing family violence restraining orders. Still, there was a sharp drop in applications, CCADV reported in its most recent domestic violence service snapshot.

Courts began accepting remote filing of restraining order applications in early April after an executive order by Gov. Ned Lamont. The allowance prompted more people to file applications, but the numbers for April (265) and May (294) of this year were low compared with April (677) and May (678) of last year. Applications filed in June totaled 478, but figures for 2019 were not available.

CCADV staffers are interviewing victims and advocates to better understand why applications decreased, according to the snapshot.

Because of the coronavirus, agencies have had to keep shelter populations at 100% or below capacity, Jarmoc said. Typically, shelters are at overcapacity to keep people out of abusive households. However, to prevent the spread of the virus, each agency is spending, on average, $3,000 to $6,000 monthly on hotels, which Jarmoc said is a significant increase over last year.

Victims, mostly women, who reach out to domestic violence agencies often ask whether they should stay in their homes, or seek refuge somewhere else -- at a friend’s house, hotel or shelter. At the same time, however, they also are concerned about being more exposed to the potentially fatal virus, Foster said.

Experts say domestic violence centers on control. Because abusers may feel they have lost some control -- of employment and finances, in particular -- they may seek to increase control in their relationships.

“Isolation is an abuser’s perfect construct,” Foster said, “and when you add the economic losses, food insecurity, potential eviction ... juggling all these things, the pressure is just enormous.”

Domestic violence services are accessible through CT Safe Connect at all hours. Call, chat and email at www.CTSafeConnect.org, or (888) 774-2900 ( texting is temporarily unavailable). CCADV says advocates can provide counseling, safety planning, risk assessment, assistance with a restraining order application, and a safe connection to a domestic violence organization for ongoing support and services. Bilingual services are available. All services are confidential, safe, free and voluntary.

Jesse Leavenworth can be reached at jleavenworth@courant.com

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