▲ ▼ Rise in domestic abuse due to COVID-19 lockdown
Humans are social creatures, locking them down in their houses for weeks is hard on the psychological wellbeing of many. Lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic has made the life especially dangerous for those who have been facing violence at their home in several countries.
Going out for work, school was the only recourse for many abuse victims; but now due to the lockdown, the abusers have full-time access to the victims.
French Govt. reported last week that there has been 36% increase domestic violence reports in Paris and 32% increase in the rest of the country. UK has reported 25 % increase in domestic abuse calls at the national domestic abuse helpline, their website has 150% more views compared to last week of Feb. In India, National Commission for Women (NCW) has reported a spike in the cases of domestic abuse; NCW chief has said that the number of cases are likely to be much higher but women are scared to complain as their abusers are at home.
Few countries like Italy has launched specific apps to help abuse victims register a complaint, but I feel all major apps should integrate discrete domestic abuse reporting facilities to help the victims.