Officials said women’s domestic violence advocates have seen an increase in calls over the past few weeks. And they said during the coronavirus outbreak, neighbors should be looking for ways to help people who may need it.
The Women’s Resource Center in Traverse City said many of their advocates have been seeing an increase in women looking for help.
They said people are looking for help creating safety plans in the event they’re in a dangerous situation.
Juliette Shultz with the resource center said during this time, it’s important to check in on your neighbors especially if you hear an altercation.
“If you hear something like that and you are wondering ‘gosh what do I do’. You can call the Women’s Resource Center and the advocates are there to answer your call and provide you some guidance on how you might be able to reach out to that person and see if they're okay.”
Shultz said people can get creative by creating a code to communicate if they’re in a dangerous situation or have a special sign in the window that a neighbor would know to look for.