Long Blog Post 3 — Domestic Violence: A Threat Worsened by COVID-19
Families are obligated to stay home during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is enforced by the ‘Stay-at-Home’ orders that are legislated to follow safety-regulations and prevent the spread of the virus. However, these orders create another sort of ‘pandemic’ for some couples, especially those whose relationships are complicated with one another. In extreme circumstances, the complications that occur between couples stuck at home during the pandemic can become deadly.
In Toronto, two recent cases occurred on the news involving the deaths of two individuals. Both cases had factors of domestic violence being prevalent.
A forty-one-year-old woman by the name of Alyaa Ali was found stabbed to death in her Richmond Hill residence on February 24th, 2021. Her husband, Ahmed Rahman was charged with first-degree murder. (Westoll & McDonald 2021). The couple’s four children were home during the event but were not physically harmed by their father. (Westoll & McDonald 2021).
Rupert Brown, thirty-eight, was killed on February 27th, 2021, in his Eglinton Avenue West third-floor apartment. His neighbor found him with life-threatening injuries and called the paramedics. However, he succumbed to his injuries before he could be saved. (McDonald 2021). His partner Leahain Malcom, twenty-eight, was responsible for the injuries Brown had sustained and was charged with second-degree murder. (McDonald 2021). Aside from this occurrence between the two, it was not the only time Malcom had been arrested for domestic abuse. Earlier, Malcom had been charged with assault, assault with a dangerous weapon, and possession of a dangerous weapon. The victim of his previous crime allegedly had also been Brown. (McDonald 2021).
Both recent cases indicate that the aggressors’ abusive behaviors toward their partners were rampant for months at home, possibly exacerbated by having to stay at home frequently because of the pandemic.
During the beginning months of the pandemic, there had been an increase of citizens seeking emergency help in Toronto and in all neighboring municipalities, especially women. (Sharp 2021).
Gillian Freeman, executive director of the non-profit Victim Services of York Region said that the number of women calling for assistance augmented abruptly in short amounts of time, as if the numbers ‘increased overnight’. She also explained how the organization would receive between thirty to sixty referrals on some days, compared to the usual amount prior to the pandemic — around a dozen daily.
Bobbie McMurrich, associate executive director at Victim Services Toronto said that the pandemic is problematic for domestic violence since there are fewer public services accessible while the severity of the issue is growing. Furthermore, because of physical distancing protocols, shelters for domestic abuse victims are limited in space. (Sharp 2021).
For example, the Red Door Family Shelter, a fifty-bed shelter in Toronto that focuses on providing a safe environment for women dealing with domestic abuse can no longer support women without children due to safety measures. (Sharp 2021). The amount of rooms available for occupancy had been reduced from fifty to twenty-three. (Sharp 2021).
Domestic violence reports rocketed as months in quarantine were lengthened because of protocol. For instance, between the period of September 1st, 2020, and December 31st, 2020, the Assaulted Women’s Helpline in Canada received an amount of 20,334. In the previous year, the helpline received an amount of 12,352 calls during the same period, approximately 8,000 calls less. (Thompson 2021). However, an even more alarming statistic is that during the earlier months of the quarantine, the helpline picked up more than 55,000 calls between the span of March and September 2020. (Owen 2020).
The reason for these soaring numbers is due to certain methods of avoiding abuse prior to the pandemic becoming more difficult or even restricted.
For example, daily trips to school are restricted for the majority of students because of online-learning, and access to close friends or family members have been cut off for most Canadian citizens due to the social distancing health measures. (Thompson 2021).
These opportunities for help have been completely unavailable for most Canadian victims living in Toronto and in other municipalities. Because of this, victims are confronted with the dilemma of how to successfully manage their situation without being severely harmed. However, due to the pandemic, many are forced to stay with their abusers and have nobody else to turn to until it is too late.
Bibliography
McDonald, Catherine. “Toronto Murder Victim Allegedly Assaulted by Partner Just Weeks before He Died.” Global News, Global News, 3 Mar. 2021, globalnews.ca/news/7673048/rupert-brown-murder-toronto/.
Owen, Brenna. “Calls to Canadian Domestic Violence Helplines Jump during Pandemic.” CTVNews, CTV News, 15 Oct. 2020, www.ctvnews.ca/canada/calls-to-canadian-domestic-violence-helplines-jump-during-pandemic-1.5145983.
Sharp, Morgan. “A Spike in Domestic Violence Happening in Toronto Due to COVID-19 Experts Say.” National Observer, 28 Apr. 2020, www.nationalobserver.com/2020/04/28/news/spike-domestic-violence-happening-toronto-due-covid-19-experts-say.
Thompson, Nicole. “Domestic Violence Reports Continue to Rise Due to COVID-19 Pandemic.” CP24, CP24, 15 Feb. 2021, www.cp24.com/news/domestic-violence-reports-continue-to-rise-due-to-covid-19-pandemic-1.5309133?cache=yes%3FclipId%3D89950%3FclipId%3D1944223%3FautoPlay%3Dtrue.
Westoll, Nick, and Catherine McDonald. “Husband of Richmond Hill Woman Stabbed to Death Charged with 1st-Degree Murder.” Global News, Global News, 26 Feb. 2021, globalnews.ca/news/7664030/alyaa-ali-murder-charges-richmond-hill-charges/.
