The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically increased danger for survivors of domestic violence in the past few months. Governmental “stay at home” orders have forced many survivors and their children into isolation with abusive partners, while abusers, not surprisingly, have used threats of infection with COVID-19 to control their intimate partners and other family members. In a time of pandemic, survivors have far more limited access to shelter services, financial assistance, law enforcement responses, and court protections, leaving them without the safety resources that were once available to them. And many survivors are among those who have lost their jobs in the economic turmoil COVID-19 has created, jeopardizing potential independence from an abusive home life.

Many organizations are stepping up to provide toolkits that can be used by survivors and victim advocates alike in this unique time to help survivors trapped in abusive situations. This webinar will review a number of these helpful toolkits and will also address how safety planning and protection orders may be used to keep survivors safe against physical and firearm violence in a “stay at home” situation.

Presenter: Rob (Roberta) Valente, Policy Consultant, National Coalition Against Domestic Violence