MISSOULA COUNTY - As the U.S. continues to push efforts to establish herd immunity against COVID-19, data analysts and historians will likely be making observations on the pandemic’s world-encapsulating effects for years to come especially in terms of socialization. One aspect that could be touched on is how the pandemic’s ripple effects have affected survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence in terms of accessing resources.
Morgan Haynie is a criminal advocate for the Crime Victim Advocate Program (CVA), a division of the Community Justice Services Department, formerly named Relationship Violence Services. CVA has four criminal and four civil advocates. She is the only “rural-focused” advocate specifically covering cases that occur in Missoula County outside of Missoula City limits.
She said in an email that it is too soon to be making definitive local claims based on statistics because the U.S. is still in the midst of its pandemic. However, she did provide a February report from The National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice which revealed that domestic violence incidents in the U.S. increased by 8.1% following the imposition of stay-at-home orders.
The findings were based on a systematic review of multiple domestic and international studies that compared changes in the number of domestic violence incidents before and after jurisdictions began imposing lockdowns in early 2020. The studies included in the review rely on domestic violence police logs, emergency hotline registries, health records and other administrative documents.
The report said it is unclear which factors exactly drove the 2020 spike in domestic violence. However, the report highlighted the lockdowns and pandemic-related economic impacts may have exacerbated violence-related factors like increased unemployment, stress from childcare and homeschooling, and increased financial insecurity.
“Children generally have more eyes on them than they do now,” Haynie said in an email. “Mandatory reporting … generates a great deal of reports to centralized intake.”
Quinn Ziegler, a data analyst with the Criminal Justice Services Department, provided data on the volume of partner/family violence cases filed into Missoula District, Justice and Municipal Courts between 2015 and 2021.
He said the difference between these courts are as follows:
• Municipal Court hears all misdemeanor cases committed within Missoula City limits. It is administered by the City of Missoula.
• Justice Court hears all misdemeanor cases committed outside city limits but within Missoula County. It will conduct initial appearance hearings for most felony cases in the County. It is administered by the County.
• District Court hears all felony cases committed anywhere in the County. Most defendants are transferred here for prosecution after their initial appearance in Justice Court. It is administered by the State of Montana in tandem with the County.
Ziegler said that cases transferred to another court were excluded in his data to avoid potential redundancy. The specific charges he included were partner of family member assault, partner of family member assault - no contact order - notice - violation of order, and strangulation of partner or family member.
The total number of Missoula County domestic abuse cases in 2020 was 216, which is four less than 2019, the highest number of incidents since 2015. Ziegler said compared to 2019, 2020 ultimately saw almost the same case volume. From this data alone, he believes it is difficult to conclude that COVID-19 led to an increase in cases although he does not think it had no impact.
“For folks experiencing housing instability, consider the possibility that they may not have reported domestic violence in their home for fear of losing their housing in a very unstable time,” Ziegler said in an email.
March 2020 had the lowest number of total incidents during the month since 2015. Only 12 cases were reported compared to 19, the highest number of incidents in 2018. Once June hit, case numbers remained above average. This ranged from 36% higher in June, dropping to 2% higher in September and going back up to 30% above average in December.
Ziegler said he would caution against reading too much into monthly fluctuations because the monthly volumes are fairly low and any movements could be a result of multiple factors or even just a “blip” that is not indicative of long term trends.
According to Haynie, aspects that have truly impacted survivors have been the lack of resources and the “extreme” difficulty in accessing said resources that were previously available before the pandemic. She said she believes it is fair to say that resources in rural communities are and have been lacking for years. Fortunately, she believes this issue has become more realized over time and efforts seem to be made in western communities to apply for grants that apply to rural spaces specifically.
From her experience, rural communities are still reliant on neighboring cities for resources to mitigate abuse. All of her clients are eligible to the same resources that other advocates provide, however, locational differences create divides in accessibility.
“I work with people that can’t see neighbors in sight but need resources that I can only give to them all the way over here in Missoula,” she said. “You see the challenge?”
Larger areas tend to have a multitude of resources including food banks, hotels, motels, emergency shelters, resources for the homeless, housing placement teams, financial support, transportation infrastructure, walk-in medical clinics, YWCA walk-in’s and parenting support. Haynie said these resources do exist in rural communities but generally in a much different capacity - the smaller the city or town, the less resources they may have. Most counties in Montana have access to system-based advocates that often work out of the county attorney’s office.
Another issue Haynie believes should be addressed is that from her experience survivors often have the opportunity to get help in a shelter, hotel or motel but they will refuse it because they are not allowed to bring their pet along with them.
“Would you leave your pet in your most traumatized moment?” she said.
This limitation in resources can result in a continuation of reliance on a survivor’s offender.
“This goes back to the question ‘Why don’t they just leave?’” Haynie said. “Emotional, economic, parenting, spiritual, there are so many reasons why someone cannot leave. In fact, when an advocate prepares to help someone leave their abuser, it can often take a significant amount of planning and emotional support.”
She continued, “I think it is incredibly important to educate people that the most dangerous time for a victim of an abuser is when they leave them and/or after an abuser has contact with law enforcement regarding abuse. If someone fears that a loved one is being abused and they don’t know how to help I would advise them to seek outside help from a professional before addressing the situation. Being supportive without being pushy can be helpful.”
According to Haynie, abuse signs people should look out for include:
• Withdrawing from loved ones
• A controlling partner
• Evidence of physical abuse
• A sense that the survivor is being followed
• A survivor mentioning concerning behaviors
She also said that strangulation has been shown to be a predictor of future escalating violence. According to a 2014 article called “Strangulation, Domestic Violence and the Legal Response” by University of Melbourne Professor Heather Douglas and the University of Queensland Professor Robin Fitzgerald, those who have survived a strangulation incident often report a range of symptoms including loss of consciousness, paralysis, loss of sensation, vision changes, memory loss, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. Some women have also experienced a pregnancy miscarriage following an incident. Swelling in the neck tissues can occur up to 36 hours after an incident.
A “thyroid storm” is a life-threatening condition, associated with strangulation, that can occur days after a person has recovered from visible injuries. Some victims have died as long as several weeks after an attack as a result of brain damage caused by a lack of oxygen during the strangulation.
Haynie said that strangulation is very different from choking and can occur frequently. Even if survivors do not want to report to law enforcement, she still recommends seeking medical treatment to make sure there is no serious damage to the body.
Haynie wants members of the public to know that just because domestic or sexual violence occurs in a relationship, does not mean that the survivor wants to end the relationship. This causes cycles of violence to perpetuate. She believes it is important to always provide survivors the opportunity to learn how their situation is considered abusive and how others before them have been able to escape an abusive relationship.
“People will only be helped and use resources if they want to be helped and change their circumstance,” Haynie said.
According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, nearly three in 10 women (29%) and one in 10 men (10%) in the U.S. have experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by a partner and reported it as having a related impact on their ability to function.
There are several resources available in Missoula County:
• National Domestic Violence Hotline (800) 799-SAFE (7233)/TTY / (800) 787-3224
• YWCA Hotline (406) 542-1944/(800) 483-7858
• Crime Victim Advocate Program (406) 258-3830
• Missoula County (outside the city limits) Criminal Advocate (406) 273-8425
• National Sexual Assault Hotline (800) 656-4673
• All Nations Health Center (406) 829-8515
The National Domestic Violence Hotline can also be visited at https://www.thehotline.org. The National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice report can be found at https://covid19.counciloncj.org/2021/02/23/impact-report-covid-19-and-domestic-violence-trends/.
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