FARGO (KFGO/KVRR) — “We’ve seen a little bit more of a jump in domestic violence and sexual assault, as maybe the rest of the state. And for us, there’s a very clear connection to the pandemic. We saw some really troubling trends starting in the pandemic, and we anticipated, as we kind of came out and found some normalcy that some of those things would subside, and it has not,” said Dr. Christopher Johnson, Chief Executive Officer for Rape and Abuse Crisis Center of Fargo-Moorhead.
Each year, an estimated 10 million people are affected by domestic violence and an average of nearly 500,000 are victims of rape and sexual assault in the United States. According to the North Dakota Domestic and Sexual Violence Coalition in North Dakota, more than 6,300 victims of domestic violence and nearly 1,400 victims of sexual assault were served by advocacy centers.
“We anticipated that we would see more people coming out of the pandemic. What we didn’t anticipate was that there would be a dramatic increase in the lethality of violence. Which means that everyone is in a more dangerous situation than we tended to see before the pandemic,” said Johnson.
In 2024, the Rape and Abuse Crisis Center served nearly 4,000 people for both sides. With a 17.6% increase from the year prior.
“What we’re seeing is those that are, for many reasons, in a position where they are looking for help, ready to reach out for help, someone else has encouraged them to get help, maybe the courts have required that they get help, whatever that looks like. But we shouldn’t think that our numbers are reflective of the scope of the problem. The problem is much larger than any of us sees,” said Johnson.
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