SALT LAKE CITY — Rates of domestic violence are rising as the new coronavirus confines many Utahns to their homes, stretching resources for victims and stoking concerns among law enforcers as judges decline to order some arrests.
In Salt Lake County, police sent 318 domestic violence cases to prosecutors over a roughly three-week period beginning in mid-March, a nearly 22% increase from the same time frame a year earlier.
In one allegation, a Millcreek woman’s neighbors heard cries of “Help me!” as police say her ex-boyfriend choked her and held a handgun in her mouth before firing a round in the apartment. In nearby Midvale, a man is accused of similarly throttling his pregnant girlfriend.
In Kearns, a woman’s ex-husband allegedly shoved her to the ground and gripped her throat in front of her 7-year-old daughter. And officers arrived at a Taylorsville home where they reported they found a man holding his girlfriend down on a bloodied bed asking, “Do you want to get shot tonight?”
Each report stems from early April, when state and county leaders urged Utahns to stay in their houses. But for many, home is the most dangerous place, and the virus can amplify the threat.
Those at risk may find it difficult to call for help with their abusers in the next room, noted Jenn Oxborrow, executive director of the Utah Domestic Violence Coalition, a network of 14 nonprofit programs serving survivors of domestic abuse and sexual assault across the state.
“When we’re cut off from those points of contact, isolation can really be another control mechanism that can really perpetuate violence and oppression,” Oxborrow said. Now that many are no longer attending work, church and school, “it’s no longer visible if someone is showing up with bruises or showing the signs of psychological or emotional abuse,” she said.
Social distancing has not prevented family, friends and others from fearing for the safety of loved ones, however. Many are placing calls on behalf of those they’re concerned about, while victims are seeking help online, Oxborrow said.
In March, the number of those seeking emergency shelter soared, but those requests dipped a few weeks later, giving way to calls for crisis counseling via video calls and legal help in child custody and protective order cases, Oxborrow said.
“We are used to working with people in crisis, and we are used to feeling the strain of demand for our services on a good day,” she said. “Our programs are pretty hardy. They’re pretty resilient, and they’re pretty determined.”
In Cedar City earlier this month, a hush fell over advocates at Canyon Creek Services when they reviewed March numbers. Calls for help had been constant and the agency’s 28-bed shelter had spilled over into hotel rooms, but the statistics confirmed just how great the spike was, said Executive Director Brant Wadsworth.
Calls to its hotline jumped 38% from a year earlier, while sexual assault exams at nearby hospitals shot up fivefold. Overall, 21% more clients sought help such as shelter, legal advice or assistance in making a plan to leave abusers, Wadsworth said.
While the workload had grown in recent years, the virus created a “pressure cooker” for couples in quarantine, some with added stress of children and lost income.
“That’s unfortunately the perfect storm for an increase in the types of violence we help people out with,” he said.
Canyon Creek wants to hire more employees to cope with rising demand. His agency has received some relief in federal stimulus funds, he said, but is calling for donations, too. While its employees remain committed to serving each person who seeks help, he said, “burning out our existing staff is not the most effective way to save the problem.”
When it comes to holding offenders to account, some law enforcers have expressed concern. They point out that judges have at times declined to sign arrest warrants amid a push to keep jail populations low.
In one case, a man accused of violating a protective order — a misdemeanor offense — sneaked into the West Valley home of a woman he previously lived with, hiding under a pile of clothing in a closet with several knives and meth on April 4, court documents say.
Police don’t believe he injured anyone that day, but it’s the sort of offense that typically would net a warrant, said the city’s chief prosecutor, Ryan Robinson. Instead, a 3rd District judge issued a summons with an August court date and ordered the man’s release on conditions he show up for court and check in daily with a pretrial services.
Many like him now have a first court date scheduled two or three months out, pushing back the timeline for protective orders victims may secure as part of the case, Robinson said. Hearings for those now jailed, however, are rolling out faster.
“That’s when we’re putting victims at risk not just for weeks, but for months,” Robinson said.
In some recent cases wherein a judge rejected a warrant, prosecutors have filed charges weeks after police first responded, undermining their argument that a defendant posed an immediate risk. But the protective order case was filed just four days later, Robinson said.
“If a case gets filed later than one would like, that doesn’t negate the risk that occurs if a victim doesn’t get their case arraigned until the summer,” he added.
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said several of his prosecutors feel similarly.
“There are some cases where they’re surprised that a warrant was not issued, and they’re surprised that a safety concern is not being taken seriously from the prosecutors’ perspective,” Gill said. “But our job is to ask, and sometimes the judges don’t agree with us.”
Yet Gill said his office will continue to argue that those it deems a risk should be jailed.
“Shelter in place does not mean shelter in abuse,” he said.
Help for people in abusive relationships is available in Utah and across the country:
- YWCA’s Women in Jeopardy program: 801-537-8600.
- Utah’s Domestic Violence Hotline: 800-897-LINK (5465) and udvc.org.
- 24-hour Salt Lake victim advocate hotline: 801-580-7969.
- National Domestic Violence Hotline: 800-799-7233.