PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Rebecca Stewart

Telephone: 513-479-3335

Email: info@EndToDV.org

Why is the Washington Post Embracing the Lie that Domestic Violence ‘Skyrocketed’ Under COVID?

WASHINGTON / October 18, 2021 – On October 15, the Washington Post issued an announcement that claimed the numbers of domestic violence cases “skyrocketed at an oversized pace” due to the coronavirus pandemic (1). The Washington Post claim not only lacks any scientific basis; it also plays on the insecurities and fears of women and undermines the legitimacy of science-based efforts to end domestic violence.

Five independent analyses concluded there was no increase in domestic violence or sexual assault in 2020:

  1. In its most recent annual report, the National Domestic Violence Hotline reveals the number of answered inquiries to its hotline in 2020 was 363,000, which is the same number as in 2018 (2).
  2. The National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice concluded, based on reports from 11 cities, that “Domestic violence did not increase in the first quarter of 2021 over the first quarter of 2020.” (3)
  3. The Marshall Project found reductions in the number of domestic violence cases in the three cities that it studied (4):
  • Chicago, IL: 23% decline
  • Austin, TX: 13% decline
  • Chandler, AZ: 18% decline
  1. An analysis by criminologist Matthew Ashby of police calls for service for “domestic violence/family dispute” found an overall 2% decrease in seven cities. Baltimore, Maryland, for example, saw no change in the number of domestic violence calls (5).
  2. In 67 large cities across the country, the Major Cities Chiefs Association reported that during the first 9 months of 2020, the number of rapes dropped from 32,234 to 27,273, compared to 2019. This change represents a 15% decrease (6).

Clearly, there was no “spike” or “surge” in the levels of domestic violence during the COVID pandemic.

False claims about domestic violence rates under COVID are easy to spot. First, they do not report the annual numbers of domestic violence victims, as reported by the Centers for Disease Control (7):

o          Males: 4.2 million victims

o          Females: 3.5 million victims

Second, they feature unverifiable anecdotes and testimonials by advocacy organizations that stand to benefit from increased funding allocations for domestic violence services.

Third, they make claims that are obviously false. On October 11, the Omaha World Herald in Nebraska published an article in which women’s center director Jannette Taylor claimed, “I think that the pandemic was sort of the impetus for all of this. People who are basically forced into mandatory quarantine with their abusers….The increase in domestic violence situations is happening across the country.” (8) But Nebraska was one of the states that never instituted a COVID “quarantine” or stay-at-home order (9).

The Washington Post’s motto is, “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” Given the extreme nature of the falsehood, the Coalition to End Domestic Violence calls on the Washington Post to:

  1. Promptly remove the false statement from its website
  2. Issue a statement that corrects the false claim
  3. Assure that the upcoming Washington Post Live event on October 21 provides only state factually correct information

Citations:

  1. https://www.facebook.com/DomesticViolenceLegislativeProject/?__cft__[0]=AZWJCzEAEfRkygifa0F7x-IGKWNt0xHpmWcT3MvzJvfbGo6JFrKTwEZR1VojD3xRCWXZpg_focrDEf29BOGZShfFhcqr4Pl1f1jM0oBzrzAtNHdVzobwKJxV4jYZBRkUS3PQA3xn0E3De85Gwvc2NUK0CK4TEhKsBIaT4u4CIrrwIHWLPwm9XtRnDZqwsW82z3Y&__tn__=-UC%2CP-R
  2. https://www.thehotline.org/wp-content/uploads/media/2021/06/Hotline-EOY-Impact-Report-2020_FINAL.pdf
  3. https://covid19.counciloncj.org/2021/05/21/impact-report-covid-19-and-crime-4/
  4. https://www.themarshallproject
    .org/2020/04/22/is-domestic-violence-rising-during-the-coronavirus-shutdown-here-s-what-the-data-shows
  5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7337826/#sup1
  6. https://www.policeforum.org/criticalissuesnov18
  7. https://omaha.com/news/local/omaha-based-womens-center-for-advancement-sees-uptick-in-domestic-violence/article_ad46a98e-261f-11ec-aa72-f32abcd12dfd.html
  8. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: 2015 Data Brief – Updated Release, Atlanta, Georgia. 2018. Tables 9 and 11. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/2015data-brief508.pdf
  9. https://www.usatoday.com/storytelling/coronavirus-reopening-america-map/