F R O M T H E S T A T E A T T O R N E Y
A n d r e w H . W a r r e n - S t a t e A t t o r n e y f o r t h e T h i r t e e n t h J u d i c i a l C i r c u i t
“weareopen”Confrontsdomestic
violenceamidpandemic
allourpartnershaveworkedtogether
tomakesuresupportfordomestic
violencesurvivorsiscontinuing,
nonstop,nomatterwhat.
We all know the COVID-19 pandemic
has created significant public safety
challenges. But one challenge —
increased domestic violence incidents
— is particularly worrying because it
wasn’t attracting much attention. That is why my office
teamed up with local advocates in an effort to end a quiet
crisis in Hillsborough County: domestic violence survivors
who are not reaching out for help.
The Hillsborough State Attorney’s Office and The
Spring of Tampa Bay worked with partners to launch the
“We Are Open” campaign, drawing attention to the issue
and spreading the message that “Help for victims of
domestic violence never closes.”
In the first two months of the pandemic, domestic
violence arrests referred to the Hillsborough State
Attorney’s Office by law enforcement were slightly down,
and calls for help to The Spring of Tampa Bay,
Hillsborough’s main nonprofit supporting domestic
violence victims, did not increase. This trend has
continued as the pandemic has persisted, with domestic
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