The rise of domestic abuse is leading to an alarming spike in mental health problems on both men and women across the country. What’s more, numerous individuals who have experienced domestic violence struggle finding methods to cope with the trauma.
What do you think of when asked to describe a homeless person? Most would paint a picture of an adult standing on a corner with a cardboard sign, usually by a highway exit ramp. Let me describe another version that may have been hiding right in front of you, maybe even in your own home. Learn the questions you and your child should ask to spot child abuse. Identify behaviors and how to help other children that frequently visit your home. Growing up as a homeless kid, trust that it’s not the behaviors that you would expect.
In early March, stay-at-home orders were put in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Suddenly people across the world were instructed to quarantine at home. For most people, inside the walls of their home is a place of security and solace. For others, home can be a dangerous place of abuse.In an instant, domestic violence victims around the world became isolated with their abusers causing domestic violence reports to increase by 35% in the United States, according to the World Health Organization. With social isolation and the stress of the unknown, the coronavirus pandemic started to breed dangerous situations at home where violence may have never previously shown its face. Domestic violence quickly became an epidemic within the pandemic.
According to the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, nearly 1 in 4 adult women and approximately 1 in 7 men in the U.S. report having experienced severe physical violence from an intimate partner in their lifetime. The often-silent scourge of domestic violence invades all walks of life and, although the poor are disproportionately affected, no one is immune. The protagonist in my new novel Wild Horses on the Salt is a young woman fleeing an abusive husband. The life of Rebecca Quinn seems idyllic from the outside. She is a smart attorney with a handsome, successful spouse. She comes from wealth and privilege. And yet, Becca is repeatedly brutalized by her husband.
As it turns out, relationship abuse does not discriminate. Domestic violence can happen to any woman of any race, religion, education level, income, or age. A victim of relationship abuse can look like anyone — even Miss New Jersey USA.
As people are making sacrifices to shelter in place and help to slow the spread of the coronavirus, there are hidden costs that we may not have realized. Domestic and sexual violence, along with child abuse, all thrive in sectors of silence. More often than not, the abuse happens at the hands of someone the victim knows, usually a caregiver or household member. At a time when people are required to stay at home, they may be at unintended risk of violence while trying to keep safe from a virus. Police departments across the country are reporting an uptick in domestic violence calls.