As more Houstonians self-quarantine to quell the spread of the new coronavirus, domestic and sexual violence victims are becoming more vulnerable to brutality by their abusers, advocates say.

“We anticipate an escalation of violence as people become more isolated,” said Emilee Dawn Whitehurst, president and CEO of the Houston Area Women’s shelter. “Isolation compounds violence.”

All of the women center’s 120 emergency shelter beds are full, officials said. The other shelters in the region that the center works with are also full, Whitehurst said. But victims are still being provided access to immediate emergency shelter through the center’s Safe Harbor program, which places them in hotels.

Because local schools are closed, shelters must also provide more support and childcare. The women’s center is currently sheltering around 45 children, administrators said.

Shelter staff and residents are more vulnerable to the virus because they are in environments in which large groups of people gather in close proximity, circumstances that are ripe for incubating infection.

In addition, the advocacy groups are experiencing challenges they never have before. With already limited resources, administrators fear shortages of supplies such as food, soap and toilet paper in the future. Scarcity of needed items at grocery stores caused by panic-buying is a threat to shelters’ daily operations, advocates say.

“Supplies are a significant issue for us,” said Leigh Ann Fry, president and CEO of the nonprofit and shelter Bay Area Turning Point. “With 72 people in a shelter, you go through a lot of toilet paper and food in a day.”

Reports of family violence in China, where the novel coronavirus originated, have reportedly tripled since the pandemic began. And advocates say Houston will experience the same phenomenon in the coming months.

During periods of natural disasters or global panics such as viral pandemics, studies show that abusers become more violent in an attempt to feel a sense of control.

“When men are overly stressed and feel powerless, it’s a high risk time,” said Julia Babcock, a psychology professor at the University of Houston, who has studied the escalation of family violence.

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As the need for emergency aid is expected to increase, organizations serving victims are grappling with new challenges posed by the virus. While many face-to-face services have been canceled for the time being, Houston-area emergency shelters remain open and staffed, according to the women’s center, which works with a network of other shelters in the region.

Advocates say they are adapting to ensure they can continue to provide for those in danger of abuse. Counseling, lethality risk assessments and safety planning sessions are still available to victims virtually by the women’s center and other organizations.

Because victims of abuse have survived trauma, they are likely to be retraumatized by the increased anxiety brought on by news of COVID-19 spreading.

“Anything can be a trigger, but we have to be extra attentive to clients’ needs at this time,” Whitehurst said. “We have to be able to continue to provide a trauma-informed environment for survivors. They need that in order to feel safe.”

Fry said the virus is causing feelings of insecurity and uncertainty for victims.

“For those we serve, this crisis not only is a health scare, but also fear that they will not have a safe place to sleep,” she said.

The new need for victims to use technology to communicate with advocates creates its own challenges.

“In many cases, the method used by abusers to stalk and harass victims is technology,” said Whitehurst. “We are making sure virtual support doesn’t put people at further risk.”

Electronic communication leaves a trail and can compromise a victim’s safety, advocates say, and providers must assess each situation and the threat of losing online privacy before proceeding.

The National Network to End Domestic Violence last week issued guidelines for shelters to prevent the spread of the virus, which include the Centers for Disease Control’s guidelines.

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The women’s center is reserving quarantine rooms in case they are needed, but Whitehurst said none of the residents or staff have shown symptoms of being sick.

Ensuring services like emergency shelters are not interrupted will be a matter of life and death for many victims, said Whitehurst.

“The people who call us for help are in real danger,” she said.

Women are 3.6 times more likely to be killed immediately after separating from their abusers, according to a 2006 National Institute of Health study.

“We’ve heard time and again from clients that they were stuck in situations with violent abusers and they could not figure out how to get out,” she said.

The increased risk of violence could mean more deaths in Harris County, which already has a higher rate of women killed by their male intimate partners than that of the national average, according to the Texas Council on Family Violence. In 2018, 1.8 out of every 100,000 women in Harris county were killed by partners, while the national average estimated by the FBI the same year was 1.29.

Whitehurst said she is concerned people won’t reach out for help.

“We don’t want people to feel alone or isolated,” she said. “We don't want them to feel like they don’t have a place to go and no one to turn to. We want them to know they have a place to go and somebody who’s there for them.”

hannah.dellinger@chron.com

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