Domestic violence intensifies in New Orleans
by April Capochino Staff WriterNEW ORLEANS — The charred remains of the Crescent House domestic violence shelter are now easy to spot along South Carrollton Avenue in Mid-City, revealing the once hidden safe house for battered women and men.
Flames leveled the old brick building along with the rest of the block more than six months ago as floodwaters rose and parts of New Orleans burned following Katrina.
For Mary Claire Landry, director of domestic violence services for the New Orleans arm of Catholic Charities, the nonprofit that runs Crescent House, it’s a reminder of the challenges she and her staff face in helping domestic violence victims.
Landry estimates domestic violence numbers have spiked nearly 80 percent per capita since Katrina and only two shelters have reopened in the New Orleans metro area.
"There were 300 reported cases in January in Orleans Parish," Landry said. "That’s just what’s been reported. I think it’s higher than that because the infrastructure has been damaged. People don’t know where to go for help. I believe there are women who are being completely isolated by their batterer."
In 2004, roughly 5,000 domestic violence cases were reported in Orleans Parish, according to Crescent House, which equals about 416 cases per month. However, nearly 450,000 people were living in Orleans Parish pre-Katrina, compared with an estimated 180,000 people now living in the city.
"It looks lower than it was but we have a fourth of the population back," said Pam Albers, program director for education at the Crescent House. "That’s an enormous number."
Incest and sexual abuse cases have also increased about 20 percent, domestic violence officials say.
Gail Standifer, executive director of Metropolitan Battered Women’s Shelter said there were about five cases reported per month in October, November and December of last year, 20 cases reported in January and 25 reported in February.
"A lot of the people are coming in after it happened," Standifer said. "They’re saying this happened to me but I had so much stuff going on I didn’t deal with it. But I’m ready to deal with it now."
Incident increase
Social workers and police officers say they are attempting to help as many victims as possible.
Sgt. Ernie Joseph, commander of the New Orleans Police Department’s Domestic Violence Unit, estimates 60 percent of the nearly 200 domestic violence cases in criminal court now came after the storm. He said his unit of four officers, down from eight before Katrina, handles an average of about 60 cases per week.
"That’s not to say that’s all that’s been going on out there — that’s just the cases that made it to court," Joseph said. "There are a lot of underreported cases, more so now than before. Think about it. These individuals lost everything they have. All they have is each other and it’s sad to say but they’re holding on to the relationship — even if it’s an abusive relationship — because it’s the only thing they have left."
According to the Washington, D.C.-based National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Louisiana ranked third in the nation for the number of females murdered by males in single victim-single offender homicides with 56. Eighty-five percent of female homicide victims in Louisiana are murdered by someone they know.
National officials are not surprised by the increased need for services following Hurricane Katrina.
"With a natural disaster like this, areas and lives have been destroyed and the power dynamic has shifted," said Jill Morris, NCADV public policy director. "Because of the living situation, someone could have more power than they ever had before over someone else. Especially given how desperate the issues of housing and safety are in the area."
Limited resources
Three of the five domestic violence shelters in the New Orleans metro area are no longer accepting residents — Crescent House, the St. Bernard Battered Women’s Shelter in Chalmette and the YWCA Battered Women’s Program in Orleans Parish. While the Chalmette shelter will reopen in May, according to Executive Director Gail Gowland, the YWCA has no apparent plans to reopen and its phone has been disconnected.
Safe Harbor in Slidell and the Metropolitan Battered Women’s Shelter in Jefferson Parish are the two residential shelters open.
Landry ran Crescent House’s transitional housing building on Carrollton Avenue along with the emergency shelter and children’s center. The two latter buildings were flooded. The emergency shelter has reopened only for day use.
"It’s not that we couldn’t reopen the emergency shelter for residential," she said "We’re concerned there’s no housing available for them to go to when they’re done here. What we’re doing now is helping them be safer in their current situation. We need to change the dialogue and questions. Rather than asking why aren’t women leaving, we need to ask, why aren’t we protecting them where they are?"
In Jefferson Parish, there are more and harsher domestic violence cases where victims say they’ve never been battered before.
"We’ve seen more severe battering and injuries," said Standifer. Metropolitan Battered Women’s Program reopened Oct. 3 and now serves eight parishes. "It’s almost like before someone had enough control to stop before they caused a grave injury. Now we’re seeing people who went into a rage and didn’t stop.
"(Victims are) scared to leave. They’re saying any roof over my head is better than nothing and when all this is over, I’ll look at my relationship and see what happens."
Standifer attributes the increase in incest and severity of sexual assaults to close living arrangements as extended family members crowd into tight housing such as trailers and apartments.
She also blames financial uncertainty and stress from the storm on the increase of cases.
"It’s almost like people don’t know that they’re not OK," Standifer said. "There’s so much angst in the community and people think they’re OK but they’re not. I want to be clear and say that hurricanes don’t cause domestic violence to change but an event that causes any amount of stress can push people over the edge."
Standifer and Landry are determined to pool resources to help victims find the help they need. They developed the New Orleans Regional Alliance Against Abuse in February, a collaboration of five nonprofits, and provide with domestic violence counselors for Federal Emergency Management Agency centers and hospitals in the region.
"Only 4 percent of women go into shelters," said Landry. "We knew that before the storm and Katrina helped the paradigm shift. Now our services need to be much more community based. We have to find these women and find support for them. They’re not going to find us."•