Anatomy of a Hoax: The Great Coronavirus Abuse Myth of 2020

Contact: Rebecca Stewart

Telephone: 513-479-3335

Anatomy of a Hoax: The Great Coronavirus Abuse Myth of 2020

WASHINGTON / May 29, 2020 – Domestic violence is in retreat in many cities during a time of coronavirus stay-at-home policies, according to reports received from police departments across the nation.

A recent ABC News report documented declines in police calls for domestic violence in Los Angeles and San Francisco on the order of 18%. (1) A similar fall has been reported in New York City (2). The Marshall Project found declines in domestic violence cases in Chicago, IL, Austin, TX, and Chandler, AZ, ranging from 13% to 23%. (3) A fourth analysis found that domestic violence police calls were steady or had decreased in 30 out of 33 localities around the country (4).

But good news may not make for an optimal fund-raising strategy. So domestic violence activists around the country have worked with national and local reporters to publish dozens of headline-grabbing articles that rely on eight strategies that serve to bias, camouflage, and even obfuscate the truth:

Anecdote and conjecture: Articles on this topic follow a predictable script — Open with a shocking abuse tale (which cannot be verified); briefly mention police reports showing a steady or decreasing number of incidents; and then frame these reports as “proof” that the domestic violence problem is spiraling out of control.

Victims as helpless and weak: One New York Times article quotes unnamed “authorities” as saying, “victims were in such close quarters with their abusers that they were unable to call the police.” (5) Considering that a victim can go into the bathroom, turn on the water, and dial 911 — all within a few seconds — this claim lacks plausibility and disempowers victims.

Fabricated numbers: On April 5, the New Mexico Political Report made this claim: “Last week, domestic violence incidents in Bernalillo County reportedly jumped 78 percent.” (6) But when contacted for confirmation, County Undersheriff Larry Koren was unable to confirm anything resembling these numbers.

Fear-engendering language: Articles often utilize fear-provoking terms such as “locked-down,” “trapped,” “horrifying,” and the like. But coronavirus orders allow persons to leave their homes for reasons of health and safety. The Illinois policy, for example, says persons can go outside their residences, “To engage in activities or perform tasks essential to their health and safety, or to the health and safety of their family or household members.” (7)

Front-loading: Police reports of domestic violence typically increase during the Spring months (8). A valid conclusion rests on a comparison of call volume from 2-3 weeks before the imposition of stay-at-home policies in late March or early April, with the numbers immediately afterwards. But many media accounts, such as an NBC News article by Tyler Kingkade (9), include numbers from February, which depress the averages and bias the result.

Vagueness: The Marshall Project article is exemplary because it indicates the time periods being reviewed and provides the actual numbers. This essay is the exception to the rule. Reporters often accept at face value vague claims about a “small decline” or a “tiny uptick.” One article quoted a spokesman for the Des Moines Police Department as saying recent domestic violence calls had been, “garden-variety.” (10)

Sexism: Articles consistently rely on male-as-perpetrator, female-as-victim stereotypes. An article in The Nation opens with this startling claim: “In many households when men are at home, the women are in danger.” (11) None of the articles hint at the reality that according to the Centers for Disease Control, each year there are 4.2 million male victims and 3.5 million female victims of domestic violence (12).
Conclusion by headline: The headlines of many media accounts directly contradict the police reports featured in the article, in many cases. For example, the New York Times reported, “The New York City Police Department said that reports of domestic violence have ‘progressively declined’ since the onset of the pandemic. The crimes fell nearly 15% last month compared to March 2019.” But the headline somehow concluded these declines “might not be a good sign.” (13

Reasons for the steady or reduced number of domestic violence cases vary. Responding to a query from a CEDV staffer, an officer in the Boston Domestic Violence Unit offered this explanation: “Both verbal and aggravated assault are down because people are more focused on good hygiene, their own survival skills and frankly have nowhere to go if they get kicked out of the house (or kick someone out), so they are learning coping skills and learning how to get along with each other by taking walks, etc.”

Commentator Wendy McElroy recently concluded, “The assumption that stay-at-home orders are increasing DV must be questioned because it is deeply flawed.” (14) Corrine Barraclough reaches a more pointed conclusion: “The myth that domestic violence is surging in lockdown will become one of the biggest lies the gendered narrative leans on for additional funding.” (15)

Links:

Press release posted here: http://endtodv.org/pr/anatomy-of-a-hoax-the-great-coronavirus-abuse-myth-of-2020/

News and Commentary