Image Credit: Facebook / Nathaniel Martin

By James Peters

Two & Out

PETERS: Nathaniel Martin’s Cutober shines a light on pandemic domestic violence

Oct 16, 2020 | 12:13 PM

NATHANIEL MARTIN SAYS he’s no anti-masker and he is certainly taking the COVID-19 pandemic very seriously.

But he’s also concerned about the residual impacts of the pandemic and the subsequent public health response that has had a huge impact on all of our lives.

Specifically, Nathaniel wants to draw attention to the spike in domestic violence incidents that has corresponded with the pandemic.

Did actual calls for help increase at first? No they didn’t.

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Nathaniel heard from the Kamloops Sexual Assault Counselling Centre (KSACC), who told him there was an almost immediate drop-off in calls and visits when the pandemic was declared.

KSACC speculates the reason for the drop-off is that those who are subject to violence were now effectively trapped with their partners.

They did not feel safe enough to reach out for help, or have no opportunities while living under that microscope.

But then, as businesses re-opened, the calls started flooding in. And they just kept coming.

KSACC says they now have a wait time to see a counsellor in the order of six-to-eight months. That’s an absolute eternity for someone in imminent danger.

Of course, what we know about domestic and intimate partner violence barely scratches the surface of what is actually happening.

Individual incidents can only be addressed if the victim of that violence feels comfortable and safe enough to say something to someone.

And so Nathaniel decided to do something — anything — to try to offer some help.

He settled on a novel idea he called Cutober. He allowed his six-year-old daughter to cut his hair. The more money he raises, the longer he has to keep the unique style she came up with.

In addition to GoFundMe, Nathaniel is raising money from his coworkers at Highland Valley Copper.

More than the dollars, though, which will be filtered through United Way to address domestic violence in the B.C. Interior, Nathaniel is shining a light on a subject that exists far too often in the darkness.

The more our community says that this is not okay, that the pandemic is not an excuse, the better the chances we can get it to stop.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.