Domestic and Sexual Violence Service Providers Urge Congress to Provide Robust Funding to Combat Intimate Partner Violence During the Coronavirus Pandemic
Washington, D.C. (July 9, 2020)—Today, the Committee on Oversight and Reform held a briefing with domestic and sexual violence service providers and advocates on their work responding to the intimate partner violence crisis during the coronavirus pandemic. The Committee was briefed on the need for robust funding, flexibility, and long-term investment in combatting intimate partner violence.
The coronavirus pandemic itself—not state lock-downs and other social distancing measures—has exacerbated the intimate partner violence crisis. Experts agreed that the pandemic has aggravated factors that lead to abuse, such as isolation and control, and anxiety.
- Barbara Kappos, Executive Director of the Los Angeles Women’s Center, warned that as a result of the pandemic, “Survivors of domestic and sexual violence are facing uncertainty, instability, isolation, increased anxiety and depression and [are] fearful of the unknown.”
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