By Joseph Hayes and Heather Harris, Public Policy Institute of California, July 21, 2020
The state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has sent Californians back into their homes. Yet for Californians living with an abusive partner, “home” is not safe—and sheltering in place can make reporting domestic violence and getting help harder. Although incidents reported by police do not seem to have increased since shelter-in-place began, data from hotlines and service providers suggest a troubling trend of rising violence in homes.
Since the start of the pandemic, victims’ advocates and law enforcement have expressed concern that orders to stay at home would increase intimate partner abuse. They worried that the stress of close confinement without access to social services or housing alternatives would intensify violent and controlling behavior, especially after unemployment spiked and officials extended stay-at-home orders for months.
Police reports do not suggest a sustained rise in domestic violence during shelter-in-place. Though California lacks comprehensive data on this issue, three major cities with available data did report jumps in police reports of domestic violence immediately after shelter-in-place began between March 17 and March 19. In Los Angeles, incidents reported by police increased from 263 to 282 in the week after shelter-in-place began. There were similar upticks in Oakland (from 27 to 57) and San Francisco (from 14 to 19). However, these increases did not last over the next three months.
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