Story By: Marek Mazurek

SOUTH BEND — With heightened tension and isolation the last several weeks for people experiencing abuse, instances of domestic violence in St. Joseph County have increased since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, local advocates say.

Amy Stewart-Brown, executive director of the St. Joseph County Family Justice Center, said the center has seen a 50% jump in calls to its crisis line from mid-March to mid-April.

“We know just from what our clients are telling us, and from our understanding of how domestic violence works, when you have isolation and increased control, there’s going to be more violence,” Stewart-Brown said.

Police statistics from March 2019 and March 2020 generally show a decrease in domestic abuse reported to law enforcement agencies. But officials caution that police data alone don’t capture the full scope of the issue.

Stewart-Brown said many victims of domestic violence would normally be able to stay at a friend’s house or get away from their abuser long enough to report the abuse. But with social distancing and stay-at-home guidelines related to COVID-19, victims have been increasingly forced to stay in the presence of their abusers.

“They might not call the police when they would have otherwise because they know they might not have a safe place to go,” Stewart-Brown said. “They might not be able to go stay with their friends and their families that they identified in their safety plans because they might be high risk or they’ve been exposed.”

Susan Tybon, president of the YWCA of North Central Indiana, said calls to the YWCA’s hotline have increased by about 15% in recent weeks, though the number of people staying at the shelter has decreased.

South Bend police filed 77 domestic abuse lethality forms in March 2019, compared to 69 in March of this year. A lethality form is a report conducted at the scene of an incident by an officer asking the victim a series of questions about the abuse and the abuser.

St. Joseph County officers performed 70 calls for service related to domestic abuse in March 2019. That number dropped to 45 this March. In April 2020, county officers responded to 50 domestic abuse calls, down from 80 in April of last year.

Data provided by Mishawaka police were not sorted into categories comparable to South Bend or St. Joseph County, but reports for domestic violence generally remained level from March 2019 compared to March 2020.

County Sheriff Bill Redman, aware that the stay-at-home order could increase cases of domestic abuse, partnered with the Family Justice Center for a social media campaign at the beginning of the shutdown to raise awareness for resources available to victims.

“That was one of our big concerns going into this lockdown, that there would potentially be more domestic violence cases because people were forced to stay home more than ever,” Redman said.

Meanwhile, rates of other crimes remained steady or decreased slightly during the beginning of the stay-at-home order. St. Joseph County saw a decrease in assault calls in March and April 2020, compared to the same months last year. Theft calls increased by 10 in the county between March 2019 and March 2020, though they decreased by nearly 30 in April 2019 compared to April 2020.

South Bend saw a slight decrease in theft and robbery case reports in March of this year compared to last year, though reported assaults increased from 69 to 117 in that time.

City and county officials were unsure how much of an impact COVID-19 safety measures have had on the numbers, but Redman said the lifting of the stay-at-home order and warmer weather will likely mean an increase in crime.

Across the country, many major police departments have reported an increase in domestic abuse calls during stay-at-home orders. Police departments in Pittsburgh, Charlotte, N.C., Oklahoma City, San Antonio and Omaha, Neb., all saw double-digit increases in domestic abuse-related calls this March compared to last year, according to CNN.

Chicago police reported a nearly 15% rise in domestic violence calls in the first week April compared to last year, with Boston and Seattle also reporting over 20% increases in domestic violence reports from last March to this year.

Local advocates encourage those experiencing domestic abuse to call 574-289-HELP, or the YWCA of North Central Indiana at 1-866-YES-YWCA.

Click here for the original story.