Senators Demand Next COVID-19 Bailout Bill Prioritize Domestic Violence Survivors – By Alanna Vagianos (Huffington Post) / April 13 2020
Over two dozen senators called for more resources for victims of intimate partner violence, sexual assault and family violence, in two letters shared with HuffPost.
The next coronavirus aid bill needs to prioritize victims of domestic and sexual violence, who are particularly vulnerable as stay-at-home orders leave them isolated with their abusers, dozens of senators wrote in letters to leadership on Monday.
In two letters that were shared with HuffPost ahead of their release, the bipartisan group of senators called for more resources and funding for victims of intimate partner violence, sexual assault and family violence as the coronavirus outbreak spreads around the U.S.
“Even during the middle of a pandemic, [victims of domestic violence] are not going to be forgotten,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who co-wrote the letters along with Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.), told HuffPost by phone on Monday.
“We have to stand by their side, even when we can’t see them,” she added. “There’s always been an issue of domestic violence victims being silent and unseen, that it’s the crime behind the bedroom door. Well, that is only exacerbated by this current pandemic.”
Past aid packages from Congress have focused on economic aid as many people are out of work. But the coronavirus pandemic has also led to a domestic violence crisis. Incidences of violence often increase during emergency situations like the one the world is currently facing, studies show. Since shelter-in-place orders were implemented in the last two months, experts have seen an uptick in child sexual abuse and domestic violence reports.
Continue to article: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/senators-demand-next-covid-19-aid-bill-prioritize-domestic-and-sexual-violence-survivors_n_5e949724c5b6d97d91f0ee64
