Chatham-Kent police say reports of domestic violence are down in 2020 compared to the previous year, but the local women's shelter reports that domestic violence is still prominent in the area.
Chatham-Kent Women's Centre Executive Director Karen Hunter said, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was "eerily quiet" and they were not getting many calls or requests for people to come in to the shelter for safety but that quickly changed as time went on.
"We knew due to the lockdowns that it was very difficult for women to reach out to us as their partners were at home and probably monitoring what they were doing," said Hunter. "As each wave eased up, we started to see more women and children requesting assistance."
Hunter said currently the shelter is extremely busy and at full capacity with emergency shelter clients. She added they have seen an increase in requests for assistance.
The Chatham-Kent Sexual Assault Crisis Centre said the number of safety checks that their support and advocacy workers make has increased during the pandemic, according to Executive Director Michelle Schryer.
Chatham-Kent Victim Services Executive Director Kate do Forno said that her agency's numbers are down slightly but they are supporting the same clients with more regularity, adding the needs are increasing and more support and time is required with the clients they are connecting with.
A report presented at the police services board meeting on Tuesday showed 1,904 domestic violence incidents were logged last year, a drop of 315 from 2019. From those incidents, 204 charges were laid in 2020, also a decrease of 101 from the previous year. Assault is the most common type of domestic violence incident, but firearms and choking incidents actually went up from 2019, according to the report. The report also showed there was more domestic violence reported during the pandemic last year than in the years 2017 and 2018. It also showed domestic violence charges have kept decreasing over the past four years.
Acting Sergeant Nelson Das Neves said under-reporting domestic violence was a province-wide trend during the pandemic and not just a local phenomenon.
"During a recent provincial virtual meeting, they also noted there was a decrease in provincial stats. So, this is not something that is just local," said Das Neves. "Some of the early suggestions is that the pandemic related limitations or disruption to services may have had an effect on possibly causing the under-reporting."