Restrictions on movement around the world are helping to slow the spread of covid-19, but they are also having an ominous consequence: an increase in domestic violence, particularly in Latin America, where nearly 20 million women and girls are victims of sexual and physical violence each year.
In cities from Buenos Aires to Mexico City, Santiago, Sao Paulo and La Paz, families and individuals are confined to their homes in unprecedented ways and are often only allowed to leave their homes in emergencies and to buy basic groceries.
Prosecutors, victim support groups, women's movements and the United Nations claim this has caused an increase in domestic violence against women.
They report an increased number of calls to victim helplines.
In some countries, such as Mexico and Brazil, there has been an increase in official reports of abuse, while in others, including Chile and Bolivia, there has been a decrease in the number of reports.
Prosecutors and the UN organization "Women" claim that the number of reports fell not because of a decrease in violence, but because women are less likely to seek help or report abusers through normal channels.
"The increase in violence did not surprise us, it is actually the use of violence that already existed in people," said Eva Giberti, founder of the "Victims against Violence in Argentina" program.
"Under normal circumstances this is somewhat limited."
Argentina's SOS line for victims of abuse, which is supported by the justice ministry, recorded a 67 percent increase in calls in April compared to the same period last year, after the country went into quarantine on March 20.
The UN Women organization in a report from Wednesday stated that there is evidence of an increase in violence against women in Mexico, Brazil and Colombia, and that in Argentina the number of femicides doubled during the quarantine. Before the pandemic, the Argentine government estimated that one woman was killed every 23 hours. "Domestic violence seems like another pandemic," said Lucia Vassalo, director whose film "Line 137" deals with this topic.
Fears about the increase in domestic violence are growing around the world, and it is feared that the victims are being silenced in Italy, the number of calls for help is increasing in Spain, and a report was presented to British MPs in which it is stated that at least 14 women have been killed in domestic violence since the beginning of the quarantine and two children. This is the highest number of victims of domestic violence in this period in Britain in the last 11 years.
In the United States, child abuse prevention systems are practically paralyzed due to restrictive measures.
In Latin America, it is feared that violence against women, which was already present on a large scale, has now increased further. Large demonstrations by women against male aggression and abuse were recorded in this region during the past year.
"In the current situation of restricted movement, women are locked up with their abusers and have nowhere to go," Maria Noel Baeza, regional director of UN Women, told Reuters.
"Last year we had 3800 femicides in this region, the question is how many will we have this year," she said.
In Chile, the authorities said that the number of calls about domestic violence increased by 70 percent during the first weekend of the quarantine. The government strengthened counseling channels and tried to keep shelters open for women at risk.
Evelin Matei, the mayor of Santiago's wealthy Providencia neighborhood, told Reuters that the number of calls for help from a local office that provides legal aid, psychological counseling and social assistance has increased fivefold during the quarantine.
However, official reports of domestic violence fell by 40 percent in the first half of April in Chile, the state prosecutor's office announced, which according to the authorities is a consequence of the limited movement of women.
"It probably has to do with the fact that violence takes place inside the home, but women cannot go out, they don't dare to go out," said Matei.
In the Brazilian state of Sao Paolo, which was the hardest hit by the pandemic and where strict isolation measures were introduced, last month there was a 45 percent increase in violence against women and cases where the police responded, the Brazilian Forum for Public Security announced.
In Mexico, reports of domestic violence to the police rose by about a quarter in March compared to the previous year, official data showed.
"Since the introduction of the quarantine, the number of reports of domestic violence has increased, and there is also psychological violence," said Blanca Aquino, director of the Municipal Institute for Women of Veracruz, the Mexican state with the highest rate of femicide.
Arusiu Unda, from the Mexican feminist organization Bruhas del Mar, which advises women in cases of abuse, said that initially they received a lot of calls from neighbors who heard arguments in other houses.
She also said that there has been an increase in "digital violence" and recently the number of women who would simply run away from abusers has increased.
"Now we have a lot of women asking for advice on how to leave the house and take the children, without the partner being able to claim them back through legal means," she said.
In Colombia, the daily number of calls to report violence increased by 130 percent during the first 18 days of the national quarantine, official data showed. The quarantine was extended until May 11
Marta Dillon, an Argentinian journalist and one of the founders of the women's movement "Ni una menos", said that women around the world are trying to unite to address this issue.
"Male violence has increased under conditions of quarantine, social isolation... We feminists are saying this in Italy, Turkey and the United States. We are putting together a document that will be our manifesto," she told Reuters.
Indian woman raped in a quarantine facility
An Indian woman in the state of Rajasthan was raped by a group of men at school, where the police sent her to quarantine overnight as part of restrictive measures to curb the pandemic.
The incident took place last Sunday when the victim sought shelter at the police station after walking for kilometers and getting lost on her way to her native village.
The police placed her in the school building, where she was raped by three men, reported Reuters. According to local officials, the rapists were arrested and are in prison.
The victim is between 40 and 45 years old, she stated in her statement to the police that she had been walking for several days before arriving at the village where she was raped.
The police claim that she was placed in quarantine at school to be tested for covid-19 because they did not know who she was in contact with and whether she was infected.
Tens of thousands of Indians have lost their jobs in cities and are forced to walk for days to reach their homes in rural parts of India due to the lockdown imposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month.
Many of them are now in overcrowded quarantine centers where there have been reports of brutal violence, particularly against women.
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