COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Some of the measures intended to help stop the spread of COVID-19 are making difficult times even more challenging for victims of domestic violence. Stay-at-home orders and social-distancing recommendations are believed to be linked to an increase in domestic-violence incidents, and also are making it more difficult for survivors to seek help.

Myriam Shaw Ojeda, fellow of policy and innovation at the Ohio Pharmacists Association, said that's why they are partnering with the Ohio Domestic Violence Network to raise awareness on the role pharmacies can play in increasing safety for domestic-violence victims.

"We are probably one of the most accessible health care providers to all of our patients at this time, and therefore it was a very good opportunity to combine forces with ODVN and try and help patients who are suffering at the moment," Shaw Ojeda said.

The Ohio Pharmacists Care about Domestic Violence Initiative is providing pharmacies with educational resources for domestic-violence victims during the pandemic, including flyers that can be dropped in medication bags with information on accessing housing, food, medical care and medications.

Shaw Ojeda said she's hopeful the initiative will open the door for patients to talk to their health care providers about safety. She said pharmacists know their patients and want them to have better outcomes.

"When someone is struggling with an unsafe environment at home, it does affect their health, it does affect other parts of their life," she said. "And so, as pharmacists we want to make sure that our patients have an overall healthy outlook, not just in relation to their medication."

Shaw Ojeda noted that about 100 Ohio pharmacies already have signed onto the effort, and they are conducting a massive outreach to get even more on board.



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May is Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, and according to the Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence, the number of Asian American women who have experienced sexual violence could be as high as 55%.

Monicah Yonghang, bilingual advocate with Asian Services in Action Ohio, explained various cultural barriers prevent many API survivors, including immigrants and refugees, from reporting sexual violence and accessing services.

"We also noticed that they internalized a traditional gender norms," Yonghang pointed out. "Meaning that the men have more power over women, and some violence against women are just justified and OK."

The Immigrant and Refugee Ohio Coalition to End Sexual Assault hosts a conference May 26 on sexual violence and the best ways to serve communities and survivors.

Leela Karki, another bilingual advocate with Asian Services in Action Ohio, noted concerns about public shame also factor into women's hesitancy to seek help.

"There is a fear that oh, if I get added to that data, like other people, I'm going to be exposed to other people," Karki stressed. "They're gonna find out that it happened to me because the community itself is so intertwined together."

Taylr Ucker-Lauderman, chief officer of communications and engagement for the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence, said it is important for advocacy groups to take into account specific cultural needs when providing services.

"We find it extremely important to uplift the work and voices of those in various cultures, and especially people of color in the immigrants and refugees," Ucker-Lauderman emphasized. "We believe this is truly integral to ending sexual violence and serving survivors in our state."

Research shows sexual assault has many long-term impacts on women, including increased risk of chronic pain, diabetes, depression, suicide, and substance abuse.

Washington state Supreme Court justices are hearing a case today
that involves access to records for public employees who have survived domestic violence or sexual assault. The conservative think tank Freedom Foundation has said exemptions to the Public Records Act are being applied too broadly for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking or harassment.

Deirdre Bowen, Professor and director of Seattle University's Family Law Center, said lower courts have seized on the fact that the unions who sought to stop these requests did not detail the potential harm for everyone seeking an exemption.

"They did not have evidence for each of the 1,000 different survivors saying if your information were to be released, it would create substantial, imminent physical harm to you," Brown said.

Bowen added there are a number of factors that will determine the outcome of this case, but one important factor is that the definition of domestic violence changed last July. Along with physical harm or the threat of physical harm, it also includes coercive control. Bowen said exemption cases might need to be reanalyzed under this new definition and added this case is an example of where the law fails survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.

"The tragic part is there's no willing to understand the nature of how domestic violence operates and that these survivors are most at risk actually when they've exited the relationship," she said.

Bowen noted that harm from domestic violence cases can go on for years or decades and can escalate over time and explained the right to public information is not the only right at stake in this case. There's also the constitutional right for safety and protection from bodily harm.

"The ultimate question is which is more important?," she said. "Are we willing to risk that constitutional right versus access to public records?"


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A grant has been awarded to a Central Indiana group to increase awareness about domestic violence and its traumatic effect on survivors.

Indiana domestic abuse reports involving intimate partners topped 6,000 in 2021, up from nearly 5,700 the previous year.

The Domestic Violence Network received nearly $233,000 from the City of Indianapolis and the Indianapolis Foundation.

Rebecca Berry, strategic collaboration specialist for the Domestic Violence Network, said the funding will be used to create a three-year strategic plan to address the demographics with the highest rates of domestic violence, although she noted it can happen to anyone.

"It doesn't matter what kind of job you have, it doesn't matter what kind of partner you have, it doesn't matter how much money you have," Berry pointed out. "Domestic violence does not discriminate."

The Institute for Women's Policy Research reported around 31% of women will experience domestic violence. For Black women, it increases to 40%.

Berry noted the definition of abuse has broadened to include more than physical and sexual violence. Stalking, withholding access to phones or birth control, harming pets, and manipulating a partner's emotions, finances or social media presence can be equally damaging.

A person being abused is often hesitant to seek help out of fear, shame or not having a place to escape. But during the pandemic, some Indiana shelters were under capacity due to shutdown safety protocols, according to a 2020 report by the state.

Berry explained the grant funding will be used for outreach to those who may be in unhealthy relationships.

"We want to link in trauma, and the ways that we have grown up, the ways that we have experienced our lives as children," Berry outlined. "So many times, those who are causing harm or perpetuating violence in an intimate partner relationship have also experienced a household where there is also domestic violence."

Service providers for abuse survivors also note they're seeing more cases involving the use of guns. The Domestic Violence Network said in 2020, 33 out of 41 domestic violence-related deaths involved a firearm.


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