Increased domestic violence under lockdown

In its issue of last Friday, An Nahar newspper published a detailed report on the increase in domestic violence cases under lockdown.  The article refers to a recent report publish by Kafa Violence and Exploitation which indicates that the number of first-time calls received on their special hotline was 105 in April compared to 75 in March.  The report notes that this spike is related to the 6 murder cases which took place during the month of April as women who have been living with violence start fearing for their lives and are therefore motivated to call for help.  According to the paper, first time callers who have been living with violence are now calling more because they are under lockdown with their abusers 24/7.  Many say that they are often humiliated, shouted at, gaslighted and threatned with physical and economic abuse in addition to isolation and and threats to be separated from their children.  The article concludes by saying that the overwhelming majority of callers are adult, Lebanese married women with their husbands as abusers.  The abuse reported is often verval, emotional and spiking into physical. (An Nahar. May 8th, 2020)