Clarified 12:30 p.m. Monday: Figures provided by the Hays Police Department in the second paragraph were incorrect. The story has been updated below.
By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Domestic violence has risen sharply locally since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hays Police Chief Don Scheibler said Hays has had 82 reported cases of domestic violence to date in the city compared to 83 through August 2019. Last year through August, HPD arrested 52 people for domestic violence. To date in 2020, HPD has arrested 53 people on domestic violence charges.
Recent cases of violence in Hays
Over the weekend, HPD handled two cases involving relationship violence.
Early Saturday morning a 22-year-old man broke into a residence of a female acquaintance while brandishing a knife. The suspect reportedly attacked a 21-year-old male and the 21-year-old female acquaintance inside the residence, according to the HPD.
The male victim grabbed a knife and defended the occupants of the home, the HPD said.
In a separate incident, early Monday morning in Hays officers responded to an incident involving a 21-year-old male suspect. The suspect reportedly struck a female victim, with whom he had been in a prior relationship, in the head with his fist.
The suspect also allegedly was observed jumping on the windshield of the victim's vehicle, causing damage to the hood, roof and windshield. The suspect was later arrested on domestic battery and other charges.
"We knew going into this that this was going to potentially be a problem," Scheibler said of the increase in domestic violence cases.
Added stressors at home
He said families are dealing with the additional financial, health and child care stress. They may have been laid off or can't go to work because of a quarantine.
Although domestic violence reports have increased, Scheibler said he believes there may be even more cases that are not getting reported.
"With all of the COVID restrictions going on and people being isolated and the financial challenges people are facing," Scheibler said, "I think people are going to be less likely to call for help, to call for assistance, less likely to call law enforcement when there is domestic violence in the household, because they know someone may get arrested and somebody might not be able to live at the house any more."
He said he is concerned if victims are reluctant to report violence, officers may find themselves being called to more intense and violent incidents when they finally are reported.
"The violence is not going to go away, once it starts," Scheibler said. "It is only going to escalate and get worse. If they don't call, bad things are going to happen."
No respite for victims
Jennifer Hecker, director of Options Domestic and Sexual Violence Services, said the agency has also seen a significant increase in both calls to its domestic violence hotline and services offered.
Between late March and Aug. 26, Options recorded a 42 percent increase in calls to its hotline. The hotline has received 492 calls since late March compared to 488 calls for all of 2019.
Hecker also said she believes increases in stressors as a result of the pandemic are factors in the jump in domestic violence reports. She also said the pandemic has resulted in violence escalating more quickly, violence being more severe and abuse cases being more complex.
People are no longer able to stay apart as long, Hecker said.
"Before COVID, there was at least a respite while one or both of them were at work. Now with COVID, that is becoming more and more difficult for survivors," Hecker said.
Survivors have needed more counseling ,as well as housing and financial assistance, she said. She only expects those needs to continue to increase.
"We have worked with a number of clients who were in the process of saving money to leave and have had to put that on hold because maybe they have been laid off or they have had a work slow down or the opportunities for them to pick up extra shifts or do other things are just not there," she said.
"They are having to make the very difficult decision to stay in an unsafe environment because they just don't have the financial resources that they need to leave and stay gone."
Help still available
Hecker emphasized Options' services are still open and available. The shelter is open. If the shelter is full or survivor and his or her children need to quarantine, Options can provide a hotel room.
"We don't want to think because someone is sick with COVID or something else that they can't get services," Hecker said. "They absolutely can. We will not turn anyone away.
"I think abusers are using COVID as a way to continue or as a new tactic to control and coerce their victims," she said.
Masks are required in the building, but Options' office in Hays is open.
Options covers an 18-county region in northwest Kansas, including Cheyenne, Rawlins, Decatur, Norton, Phillips, Smith, Sherman, Thomas, Sheridan, Graham, Rooks, Osborne, Wallace, Logan, Gove, Trego, Ellis and Russell counties.
If survivors can't get to the Options office, an advocate can come to them.
Options has also added a mobile app for download on Android and Apple devices as well as a chat function on its website to allow survivors to communicate silently and confidentially with advocates. Download "My Mobile Options" for free.
Visit the Options website https://help4abuse.org/. Look for the vertical yellow chat tab at the left of the homepage. Call 1-800-794-4624 or text "HOPE" to 847411 for a live chat. Advocates are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and will respond immediately, Hecker said.
If abuser and victims are together all of the time because of layoffs or quarantine, victims might not have the opportunity to make a phone call, leave the home or have an advocate come to them, Hecker said. The new chat and text options give victims a silent, private means to contact an advocate.
Options is also planning to start offering some telemedicine services in September. That project is being supported through federal Ellis County CARES funds.
"People will be able to enhance safety planning with victims, help them work through housing," Hecker said. "If they want to leave and the time is right and safe, [an advocate can help them] determine what is safe, where can I go and what is next. In society, we often say, 'Just leave, and we will figure out the rest.'"
Financial assistance is available to survivors, including security deposits and first month's rent.
Fear of the unknown
COVID-19 has caused a fear of the unknown, which has made coping more difficult for everyone in the community, Hecker said.
"It feels what is happening in our communities across our service area is that seething, simmering anger, almost like a powder keg just waiting for just one little spark to ignite," she said. "We've seen that across the country. It is palpable. You can feel it."
She continue, "There is a lot of fear — fear of getting sick, fear of if I leave, where will I go, fear of staying, how will I manage a court case if I report to police. I think there are a lot of unknowns. Is the shelter house safe for my family if I go there?"
Options is taking precautions at the shelter, including decreasing the number of people per room to promote social distancing.
Further increases expected
Officials are preparing for a further spike in domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assault, dating violence and stalking reports as children and college students are back in school after five months, Hecker said.
School officials are mandatory reporters of abuse, and they may start to have children report to them they have experienced or seen abuse at home, Hecker said.
Cover image credit www.canstockphoto.com