As of April 6, 2020, just under 90% of Americans are under orders to stay at home to avoid the spread of COVID-19. For most people, home is safest place to ride out the pandemic;  however, for women living with an abusive partner, home is the most dangerous place they can be. For many, there is no safety net and no way to escape their abuser. States must act decisively to reduce this danger and protect women in abusive homes during social distancing.

Domestic abuse rates increase during economic crises, and the COVID-19 mitigation measures have caused unprecedented economic stress. As a result, reports of domestic violence rose in many countries across the globe. On April 6, 2020, U.N. Secretary General António Guterres warned of a “horrifying global surge in domestic violence” linked to COVID-19 stay-at-home measures. In Jingzhou, a city in the Hubei province in China, the number of domestic violence calls to police doubled in January and almost tripled in February compared with the same months last year. China is not alone; domestic violence also increased in Tunisia, Spain, Italy, Brazil, Cyprus, and the United Kingdom, among others. In New York, calls to the domestic violence hotline have fallen, but visits to the NYC Hope website have skyrocketed.

Domestic abuse is horrifying at the best of times, but a woman who is locked away with her abuser is at a higher risk of experiencing violence. The National Domestic Abuse Hotline details many ways an abuser can torture a woman during COVID-19, such as withholding medical insurance and escalating isolation of their victim. Women in this situation are less able to report abuse because their abuser is with them all the time. This means that overstretched states must do more to combat domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Several states have taken steps to protect women who are in danger of experiencing domestic abuse during the pandemic. New York extended all temporary orders of protection and designated shelters as essential services so that they can stay open. It is also advertising its domestic violence hotline and the NYC Hope website so women can access resources while under lockdown measures. Despite these measures, much of the burden to protect women has fallen on private shelters. Organizations like Safe Horizon are keeping shelters open despite the threat of COVID-19. Hartford, Connecticut has implemented a special police team to deal exclusively with domestic violence cases during social distancing. This is an important step forward, but the team only consists of four officers for the entire city.

Other countries have implemented stricter measures. In New South Wales, Australia, the government is covering costs to expand temporary accommodation for women who need to self-isolate and cannot access a shelter. The French government has set up counseling centers in supermarkets and will pay for hotel rooms to accommodate women fleeing from domestic violence. In Spain, women can go to pharmacies and give a special code to report domestic abuse. The capital of Greenland, Nuuk, has banned alcohol for the foreseeable future due to its connection to a rise in domestic abuse. Why can’t federal or state governments in the U.S. enact similar measures to protect women at risk in their own homes with no way to leave?

More than one in three American women have been physically assaulted by an intimate partner. This number is higher than in other wealthy countries. Despite this disturbing figure, the federal government has not fully addressed the potential crisis facing victims of domestic and intimate partner violence during stay-at-home orders. The CARES act provides $45 million to the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA) and funds the National Domestic Violence Hotline. This is an important step forward but requires women to seek out help on their own when it may not be safe to do so. Additionally, there was no acknowledgement of victims of domestic violence in the plan to send every American earning under $200,000 a $1,200 check. In an abusive situation, especially involving financial abuse, it is likely that a victim will never see that money.

Our federal and state governments should follow the lead of Spain and France and implement ways for women to report their abuse without drawing the attention of their abuser. Creating counseling centers and reporting stations in grocery stores or pharmacies is a more effective way to report abuse than calling a hotline. Governments must also make sure that shelters have the financial support they need to be able to support women escaping an abusive situation, as well as funding emergency housing. In addition, governments should allocate a portion of police forces, however small, to focus solely on domestic violence reports.

In the absence of assistance from the federal or their state governments, women can take measures to protect themselves. The U.K. charity Refuge recommends that victims keep their cell phone charged at all times and create a code word that can be texted to someone they trust if the police are needed. They also advise keeping bank cards, cash, and car keys together in an easily accessible place in case of a sudden need to leave. It is also a good idea to know the number of local domestic violence shelters. These measures cannot replace a social safety net, but without help from the government, women are left to take care of themselves.