RICHMOND, Va. -- Experts are warning that domestic violence affects all cultures and social economic classes after Petersburg’s second domestic-related homicide of the year and the release of a chilling video police said captured a woman being attacked and abducted in a Chesterfield neighborhood last weekend.
Linda Tissiere, the CEO of YWCA Richmond, said the agency’s 24-hour hotline has seen a spike in calls.
Tissiere believes the lifting of pandemic-related stay-at-home restrictions is the reason why the hotline experienced a rise in calls from victims, who she said have more severe and complex situations.
That is because the group saw fewer calls at the beginning of the shutdown since Tissiere said that when people are at home with an abuser, they do not usually feel safe asking for help.
Additionally, Tissiere pointed out that domestic violence is not always physical, but can be emotional, financial, verbal among other things.
"If you're in a relationship where your partner is acting very very controlling, and they are very insulting, and they lose their temper really easily, and they are extremely jealous of any time that you spend with anyone else, or any attention that you give to anyone else -- all of these things can be signs of a domestic-violence situation,” Tissiere explained.
If you or someone you know are a victim of domestic abuse, call the YWCA's Greater Richmond Regional Hotline at 804-612-6126.
