UK govt pledges £2 mn to help domestic abuse victims amid COVID-19 lockdown

UK’s Home Secretary Priti Patel on April 11 said in a press release that the Home Office was working with charities and domestic abuse commission to provide up to  £2 million help to domestic abuse victims. Patel also assured that anybody who was at risk of abuse was still eligible to get help.  According to reports, in the last week, UK's National Domestic Abuse Helpline had reported a 120 per cent rise in the number of calls it received in a 24-hour period.

“I  am also providing up to £2 million to enhance online support services and helplines for domestic abuse so that anybody who needs that help and support can access that help and support. These services will be boosted from new IT provided by the business, and in order to boost these services, we have secured support from Fujitsu to provide IT expertise to smaller domestic abuse charities to enable their specially trained support workers to provide their crucial services remotely.” Patel said in a press release. 

The new campaign

The £2 million support was under the British government's new ‘national communications campaign’ which, in addition to helping those facing abuse, also aimed at aiding those who were "at-risk" of abuse. In addition, the £2 million monetary support was an effort to reassure the victims that they could leave their house instead of suffering and that the police and government was ready to help them. Patel while explaining further said, “It will signpost to victims how they can access help and but also to reassure them that they can access support services and the police are still on hand.”

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According to the United Nations, an estimated 35 per cent of women worldwide have experienced either "physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence" or sexual violence by a non-partner at some point in their lives. However, some studies have upped the figures and asserted that up to 70 per cent of women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence from an intimate partner in their lifetime. 

Image: AP

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