World Marks Int'l Day for Elimination of Violence against Women

On November 25, the world annually celebrates the United Nations (UN) designated International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

This year, violence against women worsen due to the unprecedented lockdowns caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic. With global closures and people spending more time at home, countries across the globe reported an increase in cases of domestic violence.

The theme for this year is “Orange the World: Fund, Respond, Prevent, Collect!” As in previous years, 2020 will mark the launch of 16 days of activism that will conclude on International Human Rights Day, which takes place on December 10.

Several activists held rallies Wednesday and world leaders called for action to stop the abuse. Protests took place from France to Ukraine, to draw attention to domestic violence in what is an uphill struggle to protect millions of women killed or abused every year by their partners and close relatives.

Organizations and countries, from the United Nations to the European Union, France, and Britain, all stated that the pandemic had so far been an additional source for men to mistreat women.

Evidence shows that the pandemic has resulted in significant increases in gender-based violence in nearly all countries, especially for women trapped at home with their abuser, " U.N. agency UNAIDS said.

In Rome, the office of the prime minister was lit in red and red banners tumbled from trade union offices in Florence in a demand to end violence against women.

Italy was a hotbed for pandemic infections, forcing the government to impose lockdowns to keep the virus contained, as an unintended consequence, domestic violence cases began to grow.

The Italian Health Ministry, citing data from the national statistics agency (ISTAT), reported that calls to domestic violence hotlines hike up during the lockdown, registering a 75% increase compared to the same period last year; between March and June, calls and text messages to the anti-violence number more than doubled during the same period, to 119.6%

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sáncheza signed a joint declaration vowing to accelerate measures to stamp out violence against women, which they called “an invisible pandemic.”

Pope Francis marked the day by tweeting: “Too often women are offended, mistreated, raped, induced into prostitution ... If we want a better world, one that is a home of peace and not a courtyard of war, we must all do much more for the dignity of every woman..”

https://twitter.com/Pontifex_it/status/1331549440172195845?s=20

France’s government sealed a deal with TikTok to encourage young people to report abuse through the social network. World soccer governing body FIFA announced an awareness campaign.

In Britain, The Office for National Statistics said police recorded 259,324 domestic abuse offenses between March and June, an increase of 18% compared to the same period in 2018.

The charity Refuge said the number of people calling its domestic abuse hotline was 65% higher between April and June than in the first three months of the year, before lockdown.