Domestic Violence in Isolation
Domestic violence rates increase during times of struggle both large and small: during recessions, wars, after family deaths or job losses, and surely amid pandemics.
The issue of violence is prevalent without curfews and unemployment, but the added stressors of such create serious tension in households which manifests itself in dangerous ways.
What toll has the lockdown taken on students and staff, and what is the Green River community doing to combat household violence? Let us take a look.
Derek Ronnfeldt, the Green River director of campus safety and transportation as of five years, knows well the crime trends both on and off-campus for Green River staff and students.
“Our campus is very safe, [crime] is not a big problem of ours,” said Ronnfeldt, who had worked at Illinois State University as the detective commander for 27 years before Green River.
According to Ronnfeldt, Green River has only received one domestic violence report this year; and the violence prevention center is working hard to ensure that these numbers do not rise.
“When you have something tragic happen to you it’s very hard to go to a stranger, but we want to break these barriers to help you feel confident that we have the wraparound support to help,” said Ronnfeldt, “It’s not our job to tell you what to do, it’s just our job to help.”
According to the CDC (1), about 25 percent of women and 10 percent of men have experienced some form of domestic violence in their lifetime; and about one in six homicide victims were killed by an intimate partner.
In times of economic struggle, these numbers spike. According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (2) during the recession of the early 2000s, when unemployment rates rose in 2002 and 2010 by 50 percent, intimate-partner abuse rose by 10 and 12 percent.
Kelsey Barrans, the Green River violence prevention center’s first program manager, subscribes to this idea and believes that while violence reports have decreased at Green River there is no reason to believe that violence itself has been (or is being) eradicated.
“Any time people have to stay within their home, it reduces victims’ availability and connections to friends and family,” said Barrans, who has over a decade of experience in intimate partner violence advocacy and program management through the local nonprofit LifeWire. “Typically, added stress causes things to get harder across the board, makes victims more isolated and prevents survivors from seeking help.”
Though this physical isolation can make support seem difficult to come across, Green River has provided access to confidential student services as well as those required to report.
After receiving a grant, Green River was able to connect with the Domestic Abuse Women’s Network, and raise funds for the violence prevention center and external associates. “They are able to provide fully confidential support, unlike a staff member forced to follow certain reporting rules,” said Barrans.
With external support as such, survivors have the ability to utilize help in what ways they see fit. From housing support to legal guidance, whatever Green River itself cannot provide has been compensated for through alliances with other groups.
“[Domestic violence] is 100 percent preventable,” said Barrans, “If we can start to be aware of what healthy relationships look like and how to support people and promote safety and education, we can prevent this from happening.”
This February there will be school-wide lessons on relationship health, to partake in these may prove valuable for violence prevention and outreach. If you are interested in learning more about these events check the official Green River website for updates and be sure to open up all of the email newsletters you receive.
Sidebar:
If anyone is experiencing violence, of course calling 911 is ideal. The government has a plethora of resources available for survivors. However, when this does not seem a viable option there are resources available on the official Green River site on the Violence Prevention Center page, and statistics are available on the annual security and fire report.
Sources:
1.
Basile, K. C., Black, M. C., Breiding, M. J., Mercy, J. A., Saltzman, L. E., & Smith, S. G. (2018, November). National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey. Retrieved January 25, 2021, from https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/2015data-brief508.pdf
2.
Evans, M. L., Author Affiliations From the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, F. P. Polack and Others, Others, J. S., & L. R. Baden and Others. (2020, December 31). A Pandemic within a Pandemic – Intimate Partner Violence during Covid-19: NEJM. Retrieved from https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2024046
