BALTIMORE (AP) — Police data show domestic violence incidents have soared in Baltimore during the COVID-19 pandemic, with police reporting a case increase of nearly one-third in the city.
Experts told the Baltimore Sun that isolation, cramped living conditions and financial hardships from the pandemic have made it more difficult for survivors to seek protection or leave their abusers.
Baltimore Police Department data show violent domestic crime in Baltimore has risen 31% year in 2021, from 354 incidents in the first three months of 2020 to 462 in the first three months of this year.
Reports of domestic aggravated assaults have risen 35%, from 266 to 359 during the same period.