More children and adults are being sexually and physically abused amid the coronavirus, but advocates are struggling to deal with the influx of people in need, the Congressional Bipartisan Task Force to End Sexual Violence learned Thursday.
Victims are often caged-in at home with their abuser.
“The numbers are up, but they’re up in a very strange way because they oftentimes cannot actually make a phone call because their abusers are right there,” said Rep. Jackie Speier, a California Democrat and member of the task force. She said people need an easier “red button” type of way to seek help without tipping off those in the home.
Since stay-at-home orders were put into effect in late March, the National Centers for Missing and Exploited Children has seen an “explosion” in the number of abuse reports to its cyber tip line, the agency’s chief operating office, Michelle DeLaune, told members.
“We have more than doubled the number of cases that have been received,” said DeLaune. “In April, our cyber tip line reports were 300% higher than they were in April of last year.”
Camille Coops, vice president of public policy at the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, said shelter-in-place orders prompted an uptick in the frequency and severity of abuse within the home, based on reports the organization received.
Speier, who announced in 2017 that she had been a victim of sexual assault as a congressional aide, predicted the numbers of adults and children reaching out for help due to physical or sexual violence at home “are going to get even greater” as unemployment rises. As of this week, 42 million U.S. citizens have sought jobless benefits.
“I got a very important and painful wake-up call about domestic violence when I got a letter from a constituent that was typed and anonymous and said, ‘Please let our people — our husbands go back to work because now that he’s home all day long, he’s abusing me and my children,” said Speier. “At least when he was working, he would come home, have dinner drink, and fall asleep watching TV.”
Speier proposed a “red button” on social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Tik Tok, similar to efforts that have been carried out in Europe. DeLaune and Dr. Apryl Alexander, director of the Denver Forensic Institute for Research, Service, and Training, said Congress needs to work with technology and social media platforms to create one-click ways of getting help.
The digital approach would resonate with young people, which is especially important since, unlike adults, they do not know where to turn for professional care. DeLaune noted 99% of tips received about child abuse have come in online, not to the center’s telephone hotline, indicating youth are accessing digital ways to seek emergency help or advice outside of standard verbal channels.
Others, like adults in abusive relationships, need medical care but are scared to go to a doctor or hospital for fear of being exposed to the coronavirus, said Coops. Adults could take advantage of a “red button” without having to call emergency services.
