Turning Point Domestic Violence Services is seeing increasing numbers of individuals seeking emergency shelter, resulting in a need to divert some people to other agencies and services.
The number of local cases of reported domestic violence and abuse investigations rose from 1,916 cases in 2020 to 2,132 last year, county Emergency Operations Center Director Todd Noblitt said. While that represents a more than 11% increase, the actual number is likely higher due to the COVID-19 pandemic, county officials said.
The need has exceeded Turning Point’s capacity to house individuals at its emergency residential shelter in Columbus and scattered housing locations, said Turning Point Domestic Violence of Direct Services vice-president Carrie Kruse.
That has left the agency no choice but to begin a diversion of their services, she said.
From July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021, the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence reported 98 intimate partner violence-related deaths within the state’s 92 counties.
That represents a 181% increase in lethality from the same period a year earlier.
Turning Point has expanded its work with the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence and other partners to ensure they are able to provide life-saving resources and support to domestic violence survivors, according to Kruse and coalition director Laura Berry. That includes working with the coalition to secure additional housing for local families needing shelter.
In keeping with the agency’s mission, Turning Point will continue to identify and work towards reasonable solutions as the demand for services continues to grow, Kruse said. But she adds domestic violence survivors in our region need help from the public now more than ever.
Beside Bartholomew, Turning Point also serves Brown, Decatur, Jackson, Johnson and Shelby counties.
For domestic violence survivors, it is difficult to leave the financial security of a home under normal circumstances, Kruse said. But because of the circumstances of the pandemic, and its isolation, many survivors feel forced to remain in a potentially dangerous situation, she said.
Other barriers than keep victims of abuse at home during the pandemic included access to housing, stable childcare, remote learning and having the ability to work consistently, Kruse said. Survivors are always balancing their safety, trying to choose the safest and most stable option for themselves, and often their children.
”Staying with an abusive partner was the safest or only option for most survivors (during the pandemic),” Kruse said. “We are now seeing the fallout from through a significant increase in physical violence and lethality.”
Officials at domestic violence shelter nationwide are often more worried about the mental and physical harm that are never reported because the survivor feels trapped.
