Coronavirus: Domestic violence on rise as millions confined due to lockdown

New Delhi, Mar 29: As the coronavirus pandemic has killed 30,000 people worldwide and infected two-thirds of them in Europe, there has been a rise in domestic abuse incidents.

As we now believe that Home is the safest place to be while a coronavirus pandemic rages outside, but for some it is not the case. Self-isolation forces victims of domestic violence and their children into uncomfortable and dangerous circumstances.

Domestic violence cases spike in times of prolonged stress and disruption, like financial crises and natural disasters.

However, India has not reported yet such cases. On Tuesday, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the country of 1.3 billion people was going into lockdown for the next 21 days.

Meanwhile, Australia had announced a nearly USD 100 million boost in funding to tackle domestic violence after support services reported a spike in coronavirus-related family abuse.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said there had been a 75 per cent surge in Google searches for help during the ongoing nationwide shutdown of non-essential services to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Women's Safety, a domestic violence charity in Australia's most populous New South Wales state, has reported that more than 40 per cent of workers had seen an increase in client numbers, with over a third of cases directly linked to the virus outbreak.

The government is also increasing funding for online mental health services, telephone medical consultations and emergency food relief in response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has left many people largely confined to their homes. Australia has recorded almost 4,000 cases of COVID-19, with the death toll rising to 16 on Sunday.