Nonprofit Helping Survivors of Domestic Violence is Seeing Uptick in Tulsa During Pandemic
Public Radio Tulsa | By Matt Trotter
DVIS
Statistics in Tulsa support the notion that the incidence of domestic violence is up during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Domestic Violence Intervention Services reported a 22% increase in crisis line calls the first six months of the year compared to the same period in 2019, and Tulsa Police handled 192 more domestic violence calls from January through July 2020 than in the same span of 2019.
DVIS Executive Director Tracey Lyall said with courts closed for part of that time, however, emergency protective order filings were accessed through law enforcement agencies and were down sharply.
"Often, survivors of domestic violence don't trust police and law enforcement. It can escalate their situations sometimes. So, I think maybe there was a reluctance for people to reach out through law enforcement. We also know that the information about how to access them was rolled out pretty slowly," Lyall said.
The organization has also faced logistical challenges due to the pandemic. Lyall said DVIS has $61,000 in unplanned expenses from putting survivors in hotels for quarantine periods before they come to their shelter, and some for even longer.
"We have many clients who work and were leaving our shelter to go to their place of employment. Again, we didn't want them to be going to very public places and then possibly bringing back the virus into the shelter. So, we also put them in hotels," Lyall said.
DVIS is available 24 hours a day by calling 918-743-5763, or 918-7HELP-ME.
Local & RegionalDomestic ViolenceDVIS (Tulsa organization)COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Matt Trotter
Matt Trotter joined KWGS as a reporter in 2013. Before coming to Public Radio Tulsa, he was the investigative producer at KJRH. His freelance work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and on MSNBC and CNN.
See stories by Matt Trotter
State Lawmaker from Broken Arrow Wants Stiffer Penalty for Domestic Strangulation
A state House bill aims to more than triple the maximum punishment for strangling an intimate partner or family member.House Bill 3371 is authored by…
Reports Of Domestic Violence Rise In Recent Weeks Amid Coronavirus Lockdowns
Scott Simon
What do stay-at-home orders mean for people in abusive relationships? NPR's Scott Simon talks with Suzanne Dubus, of the Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center, about the additional challenges of these times.
Oklahoma to Spend $10M on Personal Protective Equipment for K–12 Schools' In-Person Returns
Oklahoma will spend $10 million from its federal coronavirus funds to buy personal protective equipment for distribution to schools.That includes enough…