Bel Trew: A wave of domestic violence is breaking across the locked-down Middle East
Governments and human
rights groups across the world have registered an incredibly worrying surge
in domestic
violence, as people have been forced to lock themselves up at home with
whomever is in their household. The Middle East is
no exception. But here, many rights groups say abuse can be compounded by the
financial and political crises that were already ravaging the region before the
virus arrived, piling additional pressure on people.
Many of the coronavirus lockdowns
are even more severe than in the UK, not even permitting exercise outside and
so any respite at all. In Tunisia – where the
government has intermittently banned people from even going to supermarkets –
authorities say cases of domestic violence have increased fivefold. In Jordan, which has rolled
out similarly strict regulations, a video of a distraught woman describing her
abuse under quarantine has been shared widely online. In Lebanon, where again
exercise outside is forbidden and there are nightly and weekend curfews, calls
to a government domestic violence hotline have doubled....
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/middle-east-domestic-violence-coronavirus-lockdown-lebanon-refugee-camps-a9472896.html
