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by Antonella Alba June 14, 2020 The coronavirus pandemic and the measures of anti-contagion restrictions adopted by governments around the world have meant, for many women already victims of domestic violence, an aggravation of the problem. Women, often mothers too, who had to face a double fear and a double enemy: Covid 19 outside and their partner inside the house.

A sad reality that cries out for revenge in a civilized country. According to a UN reportThe forced quarantine that forced tens of millions of people to shut themselves up for weeks has caused an increase in abuse of the most vulnerable people, including minors. The stress of the quarantine, the uncertainty of having lost the job and the proximity day and night with the attackers have triggered dozens of requests for help.

But the situation worsened also due to the tension linked to the economic uncertainties linked to the pandemic. Result: increased tension in homes, with women, who in a situation of limited movements, had greater difficulty in asking for help or making a complaint.

The alarm was raised from all over the world, from the United Kingdom to India, from the Palestinian Territories to Latin America, where numbers of abuse have been reported continuously growing. According to the UN, at least 15 million more cases of domestic violence are expected this year : the bleak figure is from UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, which has worked in collaboration with Avenir Health, Johns Hopkins University and Australian Victoria University. A 20% increase in violence cases is expected for the first 3 months of lockdown in all 193 member states
of the United Nations. 

In the United States during the pandemic, every minute, somewhere, a woman reported being mistreated by her partner. Even in unsuspected Britain , police in London made over 4000 arrests for domestic abuse in the first six weeks of detention in the country; a reserved 'hot line' has received 49% more calls since security and removal measures came into force. In Brussels, the European Parliament has joined an association, Samu Social, to protect women: a Parliament building, the one named after Helmut Kohl, an office building in the complex of the structure, in the city center, has opened the doors and rooms have been transformed into bedrooms, each for 1 or 2 women.

In Argentina there were 20 feminicides within a month from March 20 to April 20. More recent data, from the Ahora Que Si Nos Ven Observatory, recorded 49 femicides between 20 March and 10 May, basically one woman killed every 24 hours.

In El Salvador , the prosecutor's office for human rights reported nine femicides in the first month of the blockade and, according to the authorities, the real figure is most likely higher. In Mexico , as of April 13, more women (367) had been murdered than had died from Covid-19 (100) since the country's first coronavirus case confirmed on February 28.

A recent study by the Brazilian Public Security Forum found that femicide in six states in Brazil  increased by 56% in March, compared to the same period last year (from 32 to 50 killings).

The Big Apple is no exception, the abuse and violence against women has increased dramatically in New York too . The mayor of Los Angeles , Eric Garcetti, has created a project, Safe Haven, to offer 900 women a safe haven.

With the lockdown, calls to help lines doubled in Lebanon , Malaysia,  and even  tripled in China . In Australia, search engines like Google have experienced the highest volume of requests for help for domestic violence in the past 5 years.

The UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres has urged all countries to take measures against "the shocking increase" in violence. "We know - he added - that confinements and forties are essential to reduce Covid-19. But they can trap women with violent partners." Guterres called for more investment in online services and support for civil society organizations to ensure that justice systems continue to prosecute perpetrators of abuse, alarm systems are created in pharmacies and supermarkets, and also include reception centers. as essential services. 

In Italy, according to Istat, which examined calls to the 1522 anti-violence number,  during the locdown there was a 73% increase in the request for help compared to the same period last year. In addition, 45.3% of the victims are afraid of their own safety or of dying; but 72.8% do not report the crime immediately. Instead, 30 women were killed in the first 5 months of 2020.

The UN report compared to the Gender Gap
According to the UN report, women pay the highest price of the "side effects" of the pandemic, with the risk of seeing the achievements of the last decades canceled in terms of rights. 

The pandemic marked an unprecedented setback for the female condition, making girls and women more vulnerable in economic, health and social terms, as well as further aggravating the inequalities between the two sexes.

The economic and employment impact of the global health emergency will be devastating for everyone, but it will certainly hit women more strongly, the report explains, since they usually have less professional security, earn and save less than men. In the informal sector, the one most affected by lockdowns, female workers are more numerous, as well as in the sectors of activity heavily damaged by the pandemic, such as tourism, services, trade. An even darker picture is that of developing countries, where 70% of women are employed in the informal sector, as less economic, wage and health protection.  

By not participating in the formal workforce, a very high percentage of female workers are denied access to health insurance, maternity, paid sickness, unemployment benefits and pensions. It happens to 80% of women in Asia employed in the informal sector in non-agricultural activities, 74% for those in sub-Saharan Africa and 54% to those who work in Latin America and the Caribbean: those who will pay the highest price of the pandemic.

Even looking at the numbers, the UN report contains a series of unsettling data: in all, 740 million women work in the shadow economy, often in conditions of exploitation. In the "official" economy, the gender gap is overwhelming: in the 25-54 age group, 94% of the workforce is made up of men and 63% of women. On average, for the same role, a woman still earns on average 16% less than a colleague, and in some cases up to 35%.