Our lives were altered in March 2020, due to the surge of Covid-19. Schools were close, many were laid off, furloughed, or ordered to work from home. For the United States as a whole, stay-at-home orders were mandated. With our personal movement being limited and people being confined to their homes, did anyone consider there would be an increase in domestic violence. As I understood the intentions of the stay-at-home orders; to protect us and prevent the wide spread of such a deadly disease; yet such an order left many domestic violence victims trapped with their abuser. The abuser and the government both had total control, both saying "You Can't Go Anywhere". The pandemic made domestic violence more severe. As the pandemic drastically continue on, so did the abuse. Just as Covid-19 continue to claim more lives, the stay-at-home/quarantine order is/has claimed more victims and not just heterosexual couples. Domestic Violence occurs in same sex relationships at the the same rate or even higher than the rates of heterosexual couples. An abuser's most powerful weapon is "ISOLATION". We're dealing with a "Pandemic Within A Pandemic".
During a time when everyone is struggling to adjust to a new norm, due to Covid-19, it's of the essence that we learn about domestic violence and how to support survivors.
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