'Trapped' women waiting until middle of night to seek domestic abuse help

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Ellen Coyne

May 04 2020 12:00 AM

Women are waiting to call domestic abuse helplines in the middle of the night because they are trapped in isolation all day with their attackers.

Women's Aid said there had been around a 60pc increase in calls to its helpline this month, and that there had been a notable trend in calls from women feeling suicidal.

Last month, the Government launched a campaign to remind victims that domestic abuse supports are still running during Covid-19, amid fears that the lockdown could cause an increase in emotional, sexual or financial abuse.

Linda Smith, the Women's Aid national helpline manager, told the Irish Independent there had been "quite a significant increase in contacts to the helpline" this month.

In an average week, Women's Aid would get about 500 calls. Last week, there were more than 800.

"The team are reporting that there are a lot of women feeling very isolated, very trapped - these are the words that the women are using themselves," Ms Smith said. "They feel that there is no hope of them getting away or no opportunity for them to get out of the situation because they're locked in. They can't move, there is nowhere to go."

She said the fact couples were now spending all of their time at home together had "intensified" domestic abuse, and created more opportunities for abusers to harass their victims.

Women now had fewer opportunities to call for help.

"Where it might not have been as busy before, women are now calling in the middle of the night. Every single hour of the night, there is contact now. Women are waiting until the whole house is quiet and she's finding that space to call," she said.

"The team are talking to me about the extreme sense of sadness in all the calls."

Ms Smith, who has worked at Women's Aid for seven years, said the service noticed an increase in women who talked about feeling suicidal.

"Women are presenting as being very suicidal. They're talking about the abuse, the isolation of it, feeling trapped or even having flashbacks to abuse they just escaped, and are now feeling very alone."

There appeared to her more reports of women who were being abused by their children while in isolation, and anecdotal evidence of women who were calling the domestic abuse service for the first time.

There are nine people running the Women's Aid phone line, with some working remotely.

A team of 20 volunteers are also running an instant messaging service for victims.

Laura Brennan, a volunteer co-ordinator for the text service, said it had also seen an increase in victims getting in touch.

The service was previously run only three days a week, but is now running Monday to Friday with some hours at the weekend as well.

"It's a medium that's silent, it doesn't have to be a voice. Some women are really using that," Ms Brennan said.

"All you need is your phone in your hand, or your laptop."

She said there was a sense of fear from some women, who weren't sure if they were allowed to break the 2km travel restriction to get help from domestic abuse services.