'Shadow Pandemic': Domestic abuse reports
|
|
'Shadow Pandemic': Domestic abuse reports
Earlier this month, the World Health Organization reported that an estimated 641 million women had faced joker madness physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner over the course of their lifetime. Another 95 million were subjected to sexual violence from a non-partner, meaning that 1 in 3 women face such treatment at least once in their lives.
While the data, collected between 2000 and 2018, is shocking, the scale of the problem amid the coronavirus pandemic may be even larger, women's organizations in Europe and the UN told ABC News.
That`s because over the past year, women around the world have had to stay at home with their potential abusers, unable to seek help in some cases, in what the U.N. has described as a “shadow pandemic” of domestic violence.
Data is still incomplete, but advocates in several countries have reported dramatic increases in requests for domestic abuse services. In the U.S., the National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice reported an 8.1% increase in incidents after lockdown orders.
And advocates and others have developed creative ways to empower women to report abusers and seek help amid the trying circumstances of the pandemic. |
|
|
|
|
|
