GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Both Kent and Ottawa counties are reporting an increase of domestic violence calls, and social service organizations say it's a trend they've seen for years.
In Kent County, domestic violence calls to local law enforcement are up 35% since the start of the pandemic, and this year, domestic-violence related homicides are on track to double.
West Michigan organization leaders hope their available social services plus policy changes can help survivors.
"It's important for our whole community to understand that domestic violence is a public health crisis right now," Rachel VerWys, CEO of Safe Haven Ministries, says.
In the last year, crisis calls to Safe Haven Ministries are up 26%. VerWys says the complexity of those calls from survivors is changing, too.
"We always assess for safety, and our advocates are spending double the amount of time [on the phone] than previously," she says. "So, in 2019, our average amount of contact with a crisis contact was 10 minutes, and now it is over 20 minutes."
Resilience - Advocates for Ending Violence is seeing a similar trend.
"For Ottawa County, PPO requests, or personal protection order requests, are on the rise and increasing, as well as the prosecutor's office informed us that they're getting reports of one strangulation a week, which shows an increase in lethality and risk of danger," Prevention and Systems Change Manager Lesley Coghill says.
To help survivors and others in the community, Resilience is wrapping up a series of online trainings on domestic and sexual violence.
This Thursday's session is on gaslighting, a control tactic often used by abusers.
"It's skills-based training," Coghill says. "It's also affirming, and if anything, I hope that it helps people feel like they're validated in their experience."
"The escalation of the violence is really concerning," YWCA West Central Michigan CEO Charisse Mitchell says.
She says it's important to focus on resources for survivors, but also draw attention to the systems that fail the community.
"What systems do we need to put in place so that people aren't resorting to violence, and aren't resorting to power and control? Are we asking ourselves, 'Why are people choosing that violent behavior?' and get at that root cause and that root problem, then we don't have to ask the question of 'Why didn't she leave?'" Mitchell says. "Because the violence shouldn't be happening in the first place? What are we putting in place to prevent that violence from happening?"
One of the systems she and other community leaders want to see is a domestic violence court.
"One of the things we're working on right now is the ARPA funding from the county, we're hoping to maybe establish a domestic violence court to early intervention," Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker says. "We'd like to get to these cases, these individuals who are at risk earlier, to maybe prevent them. Because those are most likely the ones that are going to get caught up in a homicide down the road or even a more serious domestic violence offense."
Becker and VerWys say there's already progress from the courts, to consider PPOs for survivors over mutual restraining orders.
"The courts are moving away with that, that was one of the things that that [Kent County Domestic Violence Community Coordinated Response Team] report identified, [that it] is not a good idea. You should have a victim if you will, and something that should be prevented from contacting the victim. So action has been taken along those lines," Becker says.
"I hope that it's something that our county commission can respond to, and be part of building the solution to a problem that is staring us in the face," VerWys says. "We don't want to see more headlines that are homicides."
Each organization has a 24/7 domestic and sexual violence help line for those in need:
- Safe Haven Ministries: 616-452-664
- Resilience - Advocates for Ending Violence: 800-848-5991
- YWCA West Central Michigan: 616-454-9922
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