(Image source from: euronews.com)

While the entire world is fighting the deadly novel coronavirus pandemic, some households in France are fighting an even worse pandemic – domestic abuse. According to the reports the number of cases of the domestic abuse in France has climbed up by 30% during this lockdown.

The interior minister of the country shared the statistics saying that the domestic abuse rate has spiked by 30% during this time of lockdown since March 17, which has been just over two weeks.

Christopher Castaner stated saying that the cases have rose by 36% just in Paris alone.

This imposed lockdown that was imposed back on March 17, has now been extended to April 15, 2020 because of the rampant increase in the number of cases.

The reason why there has been a sharp rise in the domestic abuse rate is because people are being trapped inside their houses with abusive partners.

France already has a bad repertoire when it comes to domestic violence, reporting the highest in Europe. According to the statistics, over 219,000 women between the age of 18 and 75 have reported physical, sexual and even mental abuse by their current or former partners in France.

But, out of all these case, only 20% actually report it to the authorities.

Castaner reported saying that they are going to work on stricter laws and introduce them to ensure that there are no such cases reported in the country.

He further stated saying, “A woman who is suffering from domestic violence, when she goes to the pharmacy without her husband, must be able to call for help.”

He also stated that there is going to be a code system for the victims to help them get the necessary help they need to escape from their abusive partners.

Spain has a code system like such in the pharmacies that help them report their torture to the authorities to come help them during the time of crisis.

Castaner said that as the lockdown extends, he has advised the police and the law makers to be on constant high alert for the reports or abuse and take them into consideration immediately so no one suffers an ill fate.

For any kind of assistance for domestic violence, France has a toll free number, 3919 that they can call to get help for their conditions.

By Somapika Dutta