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A pandemic of violence against women in era of Covid-19 pandemic

SHAFAQNA- The COVID-19 pandemic has shown once more that for some women not even their home is a safe place.

Violence against women and girls is one of the most widespread, persistent and devastating human rights violations in our world today, which remains largely unreported due to the impunity, silence, stigma and shame surrounding it. As the world grapples with the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and its negative impact on women, a pandemic of femicide and gender-based violence against women is taking the lives of women and girls everywhere.

Violence against women exists in every country, culture and community. Violence negatively affects women’s general well-being and prevents women from fully participating in society. It impacts their families, their community, and the country at large. It has tremendous costs, from greater strains on health care to legal expenses and losses in productivity.

The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women issued by the UN General Assembly in 1993, defines violence against women as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life”, en.unesco.org told.

Women’s activists have marked 25 November as a day against violence since 1981. This date came from the brutal assassination in 1960, of the three Mirabal sisters, political activists in the Dominican Republic, on orders of Dominican ruler Rafael Trujillo (1930-1961). The World Health Organisation estimates that one third of women and girls worldwide experience violence at some point in their live. These numbers are only the tip of the iceberg, as this type of violence remains largely unreported due to the stigma and shame surrounding it. As a result, many perpetrators remain unpunished.

Since the outbreak of Covid-19, emerging data and reports from those on the front lines, have shown that all types of violence against women and girls, particularly domestic violence, has intensified. In some countries, calls to helplines have increased five-fold. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown once more that for some women not even their home is a safe place. According to UN data released in late September, lockdowns have led to increases in complaints or calls to report domestic abuse of 25% in Argentina, 30% in Cyprus and France and 33% in Singapore, Bangkokpos reported. Worldwide, the United Nations says that only one country in eight has taken measures to lessen the pandemic’s impact on women and children.

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