Trapped at home: Coronavirus could be disastrous for domestic violence victims

In times of natural disasters and great social upheaval — Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, for example — the systems we’ve created to aid domestic violence victims can get easily overwhelmed. Nurses qualified to do forensic exams are already being pulled into more general care or into emergency rooms. At the same time, those nurses tend to be women. They are more likely than men to be caring for aging parents. They are more likely to shoulder childcare burdens. And in this moment, many of them — like me — have children who are now home from school.

In communities across Southern California and throughout the country, coronavirus fears have driven an increase in gun and tactical body armor sales. And the research is unequivocal; guns in the home of an abuser increase the chances of homicide by at least five times.

All of this is happening in a country where domestic violence homicides have steadily risen since 2010 and, in fact, have spiked since 2017.

Read full article by Rachel Louise Snyder published in the LA Times.