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UN Chief Urges Govts To Protect Women, Citing Global Surge In Domestic Violence Amid Lockdown
|For many women and girls, the threat looms largest where they should be safest in their own homes, Gutteres said.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on April 5, said that there has been a horrifying increase in domestic violence amid the COVID-19 outbreak and the lockdown in several countries.
On March 23, the UN chief appealed for an immediate cease-fire in conflicts around the world to tackle the pandemic. He said that it is time to end all violence, across the world.
For many women and girls, the threat looms largest where they should be safest in their own homes, Gutteres said. And so I make a new appeal today for peace at home and in homes around the world.
He said that in some nations, the number of women reaching out to the support services has doubled.
Simultaneously he also said that the health care providers and police lack sufficient staff, local support groups do not have adequate funds, and some domestic violence shelters are shut while others are overburdened.
"I urge all governments to make the prevention and redress of violence against women a key part of their national response plans for COVID-19," Guterres said.
He asserted on the means of creating safe measures for women to seek support without their abuser's knowledge, setting up emergency warning systems that abused women can reach out to in pharmacies and food stores, increasing spending on online services and civil society organizations to help those abused, and designating shelters an essential service.
As per several media reports, calls to online services and domestic violence cases have risen drastically in the United States, gender-based violence cases doubled in India during the first week of lockdown, the killing of women surged in Turkey since the government ordered people to stay indoors since March 11, and nearly 90,000 reports of gender-based violence were reported in South Africa during the first week of its lock-down.
The Australian government reported a 75% surge in online searches for support on domestic violence, and a French minister said domestic violence jumped 32% across France and 36% in Paris in one week.
Together, we can and must prevent violence everywhere, from war zones to people's homes, as we work to beat COVID-19, the UN Chief said.
Also Read: Domestic Violence, Abuse Cases On The Rise Amid Lockdown: National Commission For Women