What happens to domestic violence survivors when natural disasters hit in the middle of a pandemic?

This year started with bushfires ragingin Australia. In early March, the Nashville area of Tennessee was hit hard with a devastating tornado. Now, the world is up against quite a different challenge: There have been more than two million cases worldwide of the novel coronavirus, resulting in more than 200,000 deaths. Countries all over the globe are in lockdown and under stay-at-home orders mandated by their governments. Meanwhile, concern for domestic violence survivors — and their safety while at home with their abusers — has increased.

According to April projections from the United Nations Population Fund, if lockdowns continue for six more months, this could result in 31 million cases of gender-based violence globally. So, what happens if a natural disaster hits during lockdown, displaces people from their homes, and puts domestic violence survivors at even greater risk?

No one wants to imagine that a major flood, earthquake, tornado, hurricane, or fire could happen on top of this already-devastating crisis. The agencies that are usually prepared to handle major natural disasters, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), are focusing on efforts to contain and control the pandemic. As The New York Times reported last month, the Red Cross is already thinking of alternate plans to help those in states vulnerable to natural disasters, such as Iowa, which experienced three major tornadoes last month. But displacement still makes domestic violence survivors vulnerable: Survivors who have had to shelter in place with their abusers will just end up in yet another contained place with that person.

Debra Parkinson, an adjunct research fellow at Gender and Disaster Pod in Australia, told Women Under Siege via email that survivors who are moved to evacuation shelters and removed from their homes during a disaster could be in even greater danger. In some cases, survivors who already have restraining orders against their abusers could end up in the same shelter during an emergency.

In other cases, some survivors who need to evacuate their homes after a storm might not get the chance.

“Women with violent and controlling partners may be prevented from leaving homes threatened by disasters such as fires or floods, or unable to leave as the one family car is taken by the partner,” Parkinson said.

As the COVID-19 pandemic forces survivors to stay at home, domestic violence police reports appear to be dropping nationally, but that doesn’t mean the violence has ceased. In many cases, it just means that police reports are down, and survivors might be afraid of being placed in a shelter, where there is a risk of catching the virus. “Sometimes tolerating abuse is safer when the alternative is moving into a shelter where victims and their children may be exposed to the coronavirus, or when the abuser is the primary breadwinner as tens of millions lose their jobs,” the Marshall Project wrote this month. So far, there doesn’t seem to be much of a uniform solution for domestic violence survivors at risk of losing their homes to natural disasters.

LySaundra Campbell, an editor and writer at the National Women’s Law Center, who has a background working as a program specialist at the Tennessee Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, told Women Under Siegethat the response from domestic violence shelters has to be different now with a global pandemic.

“Many of us are taking precaution to flatten the curve a lower the spread of COVID-19 — including crisis shelters and activists who are demanding people be released from already overcrowded jails and prisons,” she said. “But I imagine if the police were called they’d respond how they typically do: encourage the survivor to go to a shelter or try to send the abusive partner to jail. It’s frustrating how complicated this is because sheltering in place isn’t the safest thing for survivors, but neither is going to a shelter or sending their partner to jail, especially if the partner is released and sent home after a short time.”

Still, some communities are setting examples of how domestic violence survivors might be safe from both the virus and their abusers should they lose access to a safe home. Shelters, such as those in France, are finding a fix to risking infection; they’re turning hotels, where survivors can be housed in separate rooms, into makeshift shelters. Illinois is expanding its financial resources to increase services that help survivors during the pandemic.

In Australia, Parkinson said that the Women’s Legal Service Victoria, which was hit hard by the bushfires earlier this year, already has a system in place called Link, a virtual helpline for domestic violence survivors. Using this program, survivors in remote areas can see a lawyer for free via a video call, which could be the only option for those under a shelter-in-place order. There are issues with this plan, however, if the survivors’ abusers are in the home.

Especially now, domestic violence services will need the funds to ensure that survivors have what they need to stay safe, including food donations, staff trained to work hotlines, and other needs. “Local programs can always use the most support during this time,” Campbell said.

“From my experience at the state level, it was easy to access my work from home or cancel a training during disasters or inclement weather. But that isn’t always the case at a local program where a lot of direct services happen,” she said. “So, whether financial support, transportation, food donations, or covering the hotline to relieve on-site staff, it’s nice to keep programs in mind in the aftermath, and also before crises happen.”

For immediate help, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is 24/7, confidential, and free: 1-800-799-7233.

A detailed list of resources on domestic violence and the coronavirus can be found at: https://www.futureswithoutviolence.org/get-updates-information-covid-19/