Alaska organizations serving domestic violence and sexual assault victims have experienced a surge in hotline calls as residents hunker down *during the coronavirus pandemic*.

That’s according to Alaska’s Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, housed within the Department of Public Safety. The council this week released the results of a survey of 30 shelter providers, covering the period from March 11 to April 24.

Hotline calls jumped by 52% during that period compared to weeks before the statewide health emergency declared March 11. As calls for help surged, shelters cut their capacity by 57% to provide for safe social distancing recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Instead of having four people to a room in bunk beds, for example, many shelters limited their capacity to one person per room. …

“The real picture of how stay-at-home orders have impacted domestic and sexual violence in Alaska won’t be truly understood until after communities begin opening up, people go back to work and victims are able to make reports and seek services again, without their perpetrator watching and limiting their movement and ability to reach out,” Casto said [Diane Casto, the council’s executive director].

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