How you can combat domestic violence during COVID-19

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before kovat hit we know that violence

against women is extremely common it

happens to one out of every three women

in her lifetime what we see unfolding

right now is that domestic violence is

really increasing because of all the

strains related to safety health

increased strains because of money

worries and confined living conditions

so for some families it's it's a really

toxic mix of stress of vulnerability and

we know that domestic violence is really

about power and control right at the

heart of it and so people are trying to

reassert that power and control there's

very frightening statistics coming out

of countries worldwide we're seeing in

some cases tripling of cases and those

are staggering numbers and so we're

seeing women's rights activists even

government you know flagging that this

is a really serious problem

service providers are having to be

creative about how they get information

to women women are having to be creative

about how they seek support and some

places women are going to pharmacies

right the places people can go or

grocery stores and pharmacies in most

countries and so they're setting up

little pop-up crisis centers in grocery

stores and in pharmacies to be able to

respond to women's needs texts are

becoming more and more important so

services are now reaching women in

different ways through whatsapp and

through other types of you know SMS

messaging and also neighbors and

families are having to say look can I

help

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what we realize is really critical in

this moment is making sure that women

know which services are still working

because it's true that not all services

are still working and so we're working

very closely with partners on the ground

frontline service providers shelters

hotlines you know police health all of

these networks of supporters to identify

who's still available and put that

information right into the public view

and making sure that governments are not

losing sight of this life-threatening

issue even during kovat right in a lot

of countries you know something we're

hearing that some women are going to

hospitals or police stations and they're

being told not right now please come

back after kovat and so we have to

really be clear that we have to keep the

focus on this issue right now

even during kovat

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first learn about domestic violence

understand what it is understand some of

the dynamics of violence that you might

see unfolding in the lives of people

that you know and then understand what

kind of supports people need when

they're in that type of situation if you

see that violence is happening and

someone's in danger

it's important to call the police you

can call the police you can take action

and then finally what I will add if you

want to show your support you can donate

your your funds to support you and women

you can support women's organizations

like you and women that are local we

partner with local organizations and

frontline service providers like police

justice health workers you know social

workers and and helplines across the

world and so we all have a role to play

right it really is us being a village

and supporting each other and

communicating shared values at a moment

like this

you