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Letters | Don’t let home be a place of fear for any woman or child
- Covid-19 restrictions and lockdowns are making the problem of domestic violence even worse but overwhelmed support services mean many women and children are forced to keep living with their abusers
- It is critical to collect more accurate data and rapidly adapt approaches, to provide accessible information and effective support
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Why you can trust SCMP
November 25 was International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, a reminder that for tens of millions of women and children around the world, “home” is a place of fear and violence.
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Evidence suggests Covid-19 is making things worse. We cannot wait for the full picture. We must plan, invest and act now to increase services that support survivors.
In “ordinary” times, 40 per cent of women in Southeast Asia, 37 per cent of women in South Asia and 68 per cent of women in the Pacific experience violence at some time in their lives, at the hands of people who claim to love them.
Eleven months into this Covid-19 pandemic, early reports in Asia and the Pacific reveal rates are skyrocketing. Police reports in China indicate a 30 per cent increase in reported cases of violence during lockdown. Family violence hotlines are reporting surging numbers of calls, including increases of 137 per cent in Singapore, 150 per cent in Samoa, and 30 per cent in Melbourne.
It’s even more horrifying that these statistics are the tip of the iceberg. Most violence against women goes unreported and Covid-19 restrictions are forcing many women and children already in abusive situations into closer quarters with their abusers. Many support services are overwhelmed, not operating or harder to access.
Making matters worse, communities across Asia have been battered by a devastating string of natural disasters. Millions have been forced to live in temporary shelters with limited access to basic services, adding to the risk of violence.
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