COPENHAGEN, May 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Emergency services across Europe have seen a sharp rise in domestic abuse calls under sweeping coronavirus lockdowns imposed across the continent, the World Health Organization said.
Billions of people are subject to some form of stay-at-home orders across
the globe, and experts say women and children are particularly vulnerable to abuse in lockdown.
WHO’s regional director for Europe, Hans Kluge, said countries “are
reporting up to a 60 percent increase in emergency calls by women subjected to violence by their intimate partners in April this year, compared to last”.
According to the organisation, domestic violence often increases in times
of crisis, and is exacerbated due to restrictions and containment measures
put in place to limit the spread of the new coronavirus.
“We have an increase in reporting from almost all countries,” said Isabel
Yordi, Technical Officer for Gender and Health at WHO Europe.
The UN agency for sexual and reproductive health (UNFPA) has estimated that here would be 31 million more cases of domestic violence worldwide if
lockdowns continue for another six months.
Europe has been hard hit by the pandemic, with some 1.6 million recorded
infections and over 150,000 deaths.
Before the epidemic, a quarter of women and a third of children in the
region had been subjected to either physical or sexual violence in their
lifetime, according to WHO. — NNN-AGENCIES
