Everyone is talking about the risk to life and the economy that the novel coronavirus pandemic represents. Social distancing from colleagues and friends has become mandatory in many parts of the country. As a practical matter, this means we are all staying home in much closer quarters than ever. To many, these close quarters are a good excuse to reconnect with family and even to rediscover a shared love of movies, TV, and board games.
But, to some, to the most vulnerable children, these times of increased stress and increased time trapped in small environments will lead inevitably to increased incidents of child physical and sexual abuse.
As in many other disasters (earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes), the COVID-19 crisis shows there are always those willing to risk jail to profit off others’ misery. Fraud schemes abound. Would-be criminals are using peoples’ fear to try and sell any number of fake coronavirus vaccines, treatments, home test kits, and supposed cure-alls. One especially pernicious scam involves promising people government bailout checks, which will eventually really come to people, and stealing their Social Security numbers and other personal information to steal their identities or even get banking information to steal money outright. Because the government is really working on sending checks or electronic payments to people, many will find this particular scam much more believable than they ordinarily would.
A bigger concern, though, should be the tragic but inevitable increase in child abuse.
It is well known that increased stress can lead to an increase in crimes such as domestic violence and child abuse, the very definition of interpersonal, intrafamilial crimes, that almost always take place in the home away from witnesses, away from any hope of rescue or intervention. With many parents and spouses out of work and with a fast-approaching deadline for car payments, rent, and mortgages, in addition to a serious increase in time spent in close quarters under quarantine, stress will likely lead to an increase in violent outbursts, the victims of which are often children.
We have already seen anecdotal evidence of an increase in serious child physical abuse cases. For example, Cook Children’s hospital in Fort Worth, Texas, has reported a dramatic increase in serious child physical abuse cases in just one week. Where they normally have half a dozen suspected such cases in any given month, they have had that number of suspected cases in a single week. Tragically, two of the children, both preschool age, died of traumatic injuries.
Stress does not necessarily make a parent a child abuser. But, for those predisposed to abuse, for those who already abuse, such increased stress can lead those criminal adults to take their stress and anger out on helpless children. Child abuse is an ugly crime, and one many of us don’t ever want to face. But face it we must because these children need our help and attention. We must focus at least some of our dwindling resources on protecting children from those charged with their care. Federal lawmakers are in the midst of negotiating a relief package. Will any of those resources go to protect children from abuse?
This country has never experienced conditions like these, with lockdowns and enforced close quarters in combination with massive stressors such as job loss and even food insecurity. The fear that these conditions will lead to more abuse of children is very real. The vast majority of child sexual abuse takes place inside the home and inside the family unit.
With courts closed and law enforcement personnel as vulnerable to illness as everyone else, who will protect victimized children? Where will children turn to report the abuse?
In many cases of child sexual abuse, the first “outcry” or report of abuse is made to school personnel or a peer. In this time of lockdown, children will not have access to their school or friends. This will likely lead to many children suffering sexual abuse and failing to report it in even greater numbers than ever.
Studies have shown that child sexual abuse is underreported in anywhere between 75% and 90% of cases. This means that, generally, only one or two in 10 children ever report abuse. With typical avenues of reporting denied them, those underreporting numbers will likely increase.
While politicians make financial decisions for families and for the economy, who is protecting children from physical and sexual abuse? Sadly, in the case of the two children apparently murdered in Fort Worth, the answer was nobody.
Francey Hakes (@FranceyHakes) is a former state and federal prosecutor who previously worked in the Department of Justice and practiced in front of the FISA court. She is now a child protection and national security consultant.
