Domestic Violence Reports Surge In Illinois

By Scot Bertram, The Center Square:

A new report confirms a surge in domestic violence reports across Illinois as the pandemic unfolded.

The Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline received nearly 30,000 calls in 2021, up 9% from the year before and 22% more than in 2019. That’s according to the “Measuring Safety: Gender-based Violence in Illinois” study conducted by The Network, a Chicago-based group advocating against domestic violence.

“COVID definitely had an impact on domestic violence,” said Olivia Farrell,director of Policy, Advocacy, & Research at The Network and lead author of the report. “2020 is definitely when we saw a huge spike in terms of both the number of incidents and the types of incidents. We found that survivors had much more complex needs.”

At the same time that calls increased, Farrell said various pandemic restrictions made it harder for victims to get help.

“Shelters were trying to make sure they were meeting public health requirements and folks were safe in that capacity while also addressing the safety and security needs of someone in a domestic violence situation,” Farrell said. “A lot of services had to move to online or remote. Even throughout 2021, a lot of folks were relying more on phone counseling rather than in person.”

The Network estimates more than three million survivors of domestic abuse currently reside in Illinois. In 2021, the Domestic Violence Hotline received calls from 90 out of 102 counties across the state.

Domestic Violence providers in Illinois served around 56,000 clients in 2019. That number fell to just 47,200 in 2020 and 49,100 in 2021.

“Unfortunately, in 2020 we saw service providers lose a lot of their capacity as they were also dealing with the pandemic,” Farrell said. “In 2021, we started to see an uptick in the number of individuals that service providers are able to serve, but we're still not at pre-pandemic levels.”

Similar to the numbers for the state as a whole, many counties saw rising rates of contact, some likely due to increased outreach efforts. For example, Bureau County saw an increase of 280% in contacts. Contacts in Vermillion County jumped by 90% from 2020 to 2021.

Farrell said those providers help react to calls from those in need, but there are preventative efforts also underway.

“A lot of service providers go and work with schools to provide information on what does a healthy relationship look like,” Farrell said. “For many that can be very eye opening, if you haven't had that modeled for you in your lifetime.”

The report also calls for efforts to increase awareness of community-based resources for domestic violence survivors and sustain recent spending increases for services across Illinois.

The most-recent state budget includes a $50 million increase in general revenue funds for domestic violence services, to a total of $70.9 million.

The full report can be found on The Network’s website.

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