{"id":33011,"date":"2020-07-02T01:23:04","date_gmt":"2020-07-02T06:23:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=33011"},"modified":"2020-07-06T13:27:25","modified_gmt":"2020-07-06T18:27:25","slug":"pandemic-isolates-oklahoma-domestic-violence-victims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2020\/07\/02\/pandemic-isolates-oklahoma-domestic-violence-victims\/","title":{"rendered":"Pandemic isolates Oklahoma domestic violence victims"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_33014\"  class=\"wp-caption module image aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-33014 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/07\/DV-Graphic-2-1920x1523.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1523\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/07\/DV-Graphic-2-1920x1523.png 1920w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/07\/DV-Graphic-2-672x533.png 672w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/07\/DV-Graphic-2-768x609.png 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/07\/DV-Graphic-2-150x119.png 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/07\/DV-Graphic-2-300x238.png 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/07\/DV-Graphic-2-620x492.png 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/07\/DV-Graphic-2-1362x1080.png 1362w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Courtesy of the Oklahoma Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">In 2018, 88 Oklahomans were killed by domestic abusers.<\/p>\n<\/div><p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/player.simplecast.com\/66a1850c-d7f8-4d4e-afc4-d08eb9a968f7?dark=false\" width=\"100%\" height=\"200px\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p><p>The novel coronavirus is a germy wrench stuck in the gears of domestic violence advocacy programs across the state.<\/p><p>Measures taken to escape Covid-19 have made it harder for some domestic violence victims to find safety from their abusers. Victim advocates also fear they may experience more severe violence in their isolation.<\/p><p>Shelley Battles-Reichle is executive director of the Family Crisis Center in Ada. She says when the disease caused by the novel coronavirus forced the state to close down, many victims sheltered in place with their abusers. As a result, they lost their small windows of opportunity to call a state hotline for help.<\/p><p>\u201cIn a majority of cases when people call that hotline, the perpetrator has left the home or they\u2019re somewhere else,\u201d Battles-Reichle said.<\/p><p>Parents are also less likely to make that call in front of their kids who are home because of school closures.<\/p><p>If they were going to keep tossing lifelines to victims, Battles-Reichle says the Ada crisis center and other victim advocacy programs around the state had to adapt to Covid-19.<\/p>\n<h3>Uncomfortable changes<\/h3><p>The changes were tough. Fewer victims came to the Ada shelter. When they did come, Battles-Reichle says she couldn\u2019t allow them to leave and come back as they pleased.<\/p><p>\u201cThey came from one restrictive environment where a batterer was &#8230; controlling them,\u201d Battles-Reichle said. \u201cUnfortunately to keep everyone safe, we were implementing some policies that were similar.\u201d<\/p><p>Battles-Reichle hoped phones, video conferencing and messaging apps would help close the distance between her organization and the people it aims to help.<\/p><p>But rural access to those technologies is spotty. Making a FaceTime call in secret isn\u2019t always possible. Now that the state is open again, she\u2019s getting a glimpse into the damage caused by the pandemic.<\/p><p>\u201c&#8230; We\u2019ve seen an uptick in the number of people who are coming in since the state has reopened,\u201d Battles-Reichle said.<\/p><p>Some victims have told her Covid-19 made it impossible to reach out.<\/p>\n<h3>A statewide challenge<\/h3><p>The same scenario is playing out across the state. Reopening has led to more hotline calls, more shelter visits and more conversations with advocates.<\/p><p>Candida Manion, the executive director of the Oklahoma Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, says she probably won\u2019t know the full scope of the pandemic\u2019s impact for months.<\/p><p>Her nonprofit supports domestic violence victim advocacy groups around the state. She says they were busy for weeks after the state shut down trying to figure out what to do.<\/p><p>\u201cThis was an unknown so we didn\u2019t know how to deal with it,\u201d Manion said.<\/p><p>She did know one thing: pandemic or not, domestic violence shelters couldn\u2019t close.<\/p><p>Manion\u2019s team, federal agencies, national advocacy groups and local shelters, came up with some guidelines that she says have been successful.<\/p><p>First, shelters had to protect their staff if they were going to stay open. Many decided to run on skeleton crews.<\/p><p>\u201cYou don\u2019t want five advocates coming into work and falling sick at the same time,\u201d Manion said.<\/p><p>Shutting down would be the only choice for some shelters if that happened.<\/p><p>Shelters also reduced the number of victims they would permit to stay at one time and they designated quarantine rooms. Manion says the state\u2019s reopening is testing these new policies. Many shelters are filling up.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_33013\"  class=\"wp-caption module image aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-33013 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/07\/DV-Graphic-e1593669006339-1920x1596.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1596\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Courtesy of the Oklahoma Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Domestic violence victims separated from services may face more danger.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3>How did the shutdown affect victims?<\/h3><p>Today\u2019s circumstances are almost the exact opposite of what advocates experienced during the shutdown.<\/p><p>\u201cPeople were calling 911 but \u2026 the shelters weren\u2019t getting full,\u201d Manion said.<\/p><p>It\u2019s unclear how many victims called police for help. Several police departments reported little change or a drop in domestic violence calls. But during the last four months, the Oklahoma City Police Department experienced a 13 percent increase in calls compared to the same period last year.<\/p><p><a href=\"http:\/\/oag.publishpath.com\/Websites\/oag\/images\/2019%20DVFRB%20Annual%20Report%20-%20Final.pdf\">According to annual reports<\/a> from the Oklahoma Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board, Oklahoma County regularly reports many more domestic violence deaths than any county, except Tulsa.<\/p><p>Manion\u2019s staff believes the increase in 9-1-1 calls might mean victims in Oklahoma City experienced especially severe violence. The nonprofit also reports anecdotal evidence of a rise in victim\u2019s protection order filings.<\/p><p>\u201cI think if you were to call us back in three months we\u2019ll learn more why this was even happening,\u201d Manion said.<\/p><p>But, Manion is afraid that as the pandemic continues and advocates struggle to connect with victims, they\u2019ll see more abuse.<\/p><p>\u201cWe are expecting a higher lethality of crimes as we go (on) &#8230; so in the past you might\u2019ve seen 50 cases of abuse and mental abuse or whatever,\u201d Manion hypothesized. \u201cNow you\u2019re going to see that go into probably more basically stabbing and &#8230; basically almost killing the victim.<\/p><p>Researchers have found domestic violence victims who accessed victims\u2019 resources and got help were much less likely to be seriously injured or killed. Victims who lose access to services could face more danger.<\/p><p>Manion says fear of Covid-19 has also reduced participation in court-mandated programs that hold batterers accountable and challenge their rationalizations for abuse. Manion says intervention programs can help, but they lose effectiveness <a href=\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2019\/10\/24\/most-domestic-abusers-defy-court-ordered-intervention\/\">when abusers stop going<\/a>.<\/p><p>Despite her fear of more violence, Manion says it\u2019s wrong to use domestic violence as a reason to criticize state leaders for shutting down businesses and public life.<\/p><p>\u201cPerpetrators are going to do it regardless of where they are,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019re going to (use) every excuse to abuse their spouse or their ex, period.\u201d<\/p><p>Manion and Shelley Battles-Reichle say advocates will continue to help victims where they can and try to curb the violence.<\/p>\n<h3>Victim Services Resources<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>24-hour Safeline:\u00a0<\/strong>1-800-522-SAFE (7233) provides assistance with safety planning, crisis intervention, emergency shelter and advocacy to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Abuse Hotline<\/strong><br \/>\n1-800-522-3511<\/li>\n<li><strong>Address Confidentiality Program<\/strong><br \/>\n1-866-227-7784<\/li>\n<li><strong>Communication Services for the Deaf<\/strong><br \/>\n1-866-845-7455<\/li>\n<li><strong>Elder Abuse Hotline<\/strong><br \/>\n1-800-522-3511<\/li>\n<li><strong>Victims Impact Panel of Oklahoma, Inc.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>(405) 216-9556<\/li>\n<li><strong>VINE &#8211; Criminal Tracking & Victim Notification<\/strong><br \/>\n1-877-654-8463<\/li>\n<\/ul><p><i>Editor&#8217;s Note: A photo caption in this story has been changed to\u00a0reflect\u00a0the correct number of domestic violence homicide victims in 2018.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Covid-19 made it harder for some domestic violence victims to find safety from their abusers. Victim advocates also fear they may experience more severe violence in their isolation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":201,"featured_media":33013,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[1275,1238,1274,1276],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33011"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/201"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33011"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33011\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33032,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33011\/revisions\/33032"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}