Domestic Abuse and Quarantine: When the Danger Is Inside Your Home - What Victims Quarantined with an Abuser Need to Know.

• Author: Patrick, Wendy L.

Requesting the public to shelter in place assumes a safe place to hunker down and weather the storm. But not everyone is safe at home. For domestic violence victims, home is the most dangerous place to be. And if a couple is subjected to a mandatory lockdown, the potential for both physical and emotional abuse can be dangerously elevated.

HOME COURT DISADVANTAGE

Some victims in abusive relationships aim to spend as much time away from their home as they can. From arriving early at work, to lingering over coffee with a friend afterwards, to slowly wheeling a cart through the grocery store killing time on their way home, the goal is to minimize the time spent under the same roof as an abusive partner.

This is true even in relationships without physical abuse. In a previous column entitled Remote Controlled: Domestic Abuse Through Technology, (1) I discussed the prevalence of digital abuse by emotionally abusive partners who use technology to manipulate a victim's home environment. From controlling the thermostat, to the television, to the lights, an abuser's desire to exert power and control over a victim is made easier by smart home technology.

Unfortunately, current options available to victims seeking to limit exposure to their abusers have dwindled. Avoiding the residence is not possible for victims who are ordered to work from home or are otherwise ordered to shelter in place. For these victims, the only thing worse than being trapped at home, is being trapped at home with their abuser. And unfortunately, the current coronavirus pandemic has given abusers an additional weapon to add to their arsenal.

CONDITIONS OF HOUSE ARREST

In an article in Time, Melissa Godin reports that according to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, callers are reporting that their abusers are using COVID-19 as a weapon. (2) Some abusers use contagion concerns to further isolate victims from their support system, others threaten to evict them in order to make them sick. Godin notes that one victim shared that her abuser threatened to evict her from the home if she started coughing, adding that she "could die alone in a hospital room." The victim shared her fear that her husband would lock her out of her home if she dared to leave.

Godin notes that even victims who would otherwise seek medical attention are dissuaded from seeking help due to valid concerns over subjecting themselves to infection, particularly if they suffer from pre-existing conditions. She...