PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — New information from the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services shows the number of domestic violence cases in the state rose after state officials lifted the stay-at-home order.
Lori Sywensky, executive director of Turning Point of Lehigh Valley, said March was “eerily quiet” before officials saw a small uptick in cases in April.
“That significantly changed, though, when you come to June. And so when the stay-at-home orders were lifted, what we knew or expected to happen was that the floodgates would open, and that is what we experienced. That when people had the opportunity, because partners went back to work or because they were able to go back to work, or daycares began to reopen,” Sywensky explained.
State Human Services Secretary Teresa Miller said services were, and are, available 24/7 to anyone experiencing domestic violence.
DHS said more data on the number of domestic violence cases in the state between June and the end of the year will be available in December.
One in four women and one in seven men experience intimate partner violence in their lifetime. In 2019, 112 women, men, and children lost their lives from domestic violence in Pennsylvania.
The Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, a network that provides sexual assault crisis services, has a 24-hour hotline that can connect callers to a local sexual assault center at 1-888-772-7227.
The Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence provides domestic violence services 24/7. The hotline number is 1-800-799-7233, or text LOVEIS to 22522.