How organizations have adapted to support domestic violence survivors during COVID-19

Kathleen Jodouin has been keeping a close eye on the number of domestic violence calls coming in at Victim Services of Nipissing District, where she is executive director. 

Last year, when the province entered its first COVID-19 lockdown, Jodouin noticed a concerning shift — an immediate drop in call volume.

"We were worried that folks were locked inside their homes with their abusers, and not able to reach out for support," Jodouin said. 

She said since the calls picked up again in July, they have remained fairly steady, and consistent with other years. But as the stay at home order continues in her region, she once again worries about those who may not be able to safely ask for help.

North Bay-Parry Sound is one of three health units in the province for which the stay at home order has been extended, until at least March 8. 

"We're anticipating that there could be an increase. We know a few of our community partners are already … reporting that. And so we are sort of bracing ourselves that we could see an increase in call volume," Jodouin said. 

Demand for counselling 

At Centre Victoria pour femmes in Sudbury, a sexual assault crisis centre and support centre for French speaking women, executive director Gaëtane Pharand recalls her worry last March about how the pandemic would impact domestic violence rates. 

Pharand said the provincial crisis phone line, operated in partnership with organizations in southern and eastern Ontario, has seen some fluctuation of call volume over the past year, but locally has been mostly steady. Where she has seen an increase, however, is in demand for both one on one and group counselling, which is now being offered by video call or phone. 

"In the beginning most of the women that we touched base with who were our clients said 'no, I'll wait.' And then three, four months down the road when they saw that this was going to be much longer than expected, then they started calling back and saying 'no, I want to start up,'" Pharand said. 

She said staff also reached out to previous clients, some of whom decided to resume counselling, to help them through the added challenges of isolation. 

Pharand said adapting to offering services virtually has been "a very big challenge." However she said with technology support, about 80 per cent of the centre's clients have been able to engage successfully in virtual sessions. For the rest, one on one phone sessions have been an option, she said. 

"Women want to participate, once we've kind of overcome the fear a bit around technology and 'how do I do this,'" Pharand said. 

As well as counselling, Pharand said there has been an increased demand for other supports during the pandemic, ranging from groceries to transportation to access other services. 

While she'd been happy to see the success of the remote supports, Pharand said, like Jodouin, she is "absolutely" concerned about those who aren't able to reach out for help. 

"When I'm in conference call with my colleagues across you know the district here or the district in Algoma, we hear it all the time that we know that we're not you know maybe accessing all of those who are in need."

Pharand and Jodouin both said they want people to know help is still available, despite the pandemic.