THE CURBING OF THE ESCALATING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE DURING AND POST COVID19. WE ARE A GRASS ROOT ORGANIZATION BUT BRINGING A BIGGER IMPACT IN THE COMMUNITIES WE SERVE. PLEASE INCASE YOUR LOOKING FOR. ANEW ORGANIZATION IN ERASMUS + PROJECTS CONSIDER WORKING WI

The project is meant to reduce on family breakups gender inequality,child abuse, physiological torture and depression, drug abuse, deaths and sexual harassment
Not only has domestic violence surfaced during covid19 but also it has been there for decades. And the effects have not been of any big difference from the existing effects and probably causes and nothing much has been changed when it comes to the victims as they have always been women and children to some extent however it has crossed over to men as they can also be abused though to smaller extent. Prior to the mid 1800s, the legal systems observed that there were women beatings by their husbands, during the 19th century the first- wave feminist movement happened to led to some changes on the perception of women by their husbands and women were free from bodily stripes or beatings by their husbands within the United States, United Kingdom and other countries, they were allowed legal separation from abusive husbands. However much it was not effective enough. In 1993 the United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women discouraged all forms of violence. By the early 20th century it was common that domestic violence is illegal and the police intervened in case of a reported abuse. However despite the earlier cases of domestic violence, Covid 19 has acted as a trigger to its increment in different parts of the world all over the continents of Europe ,Asia ,United States and Africa. And is likely to increase during the post Covid 19 due to the long term effects caused by the disease if not paid attention too.
Domestic violence is a form of abuse that always occurs among the intimate partners, family member or spouses, this can take place in heterosexual relationships or same sex relationships, former spouses, unmarried partners, female perpetrators and in most cases it can involve the abuse of children, parents and not leaving the elderly in a safe zone such as in marriage or cohabitation.
Unfortunately when the two spouses are under an abuse they never think at anytime that there is a third party being affected and they go ahead to use the different forms of abuse for example; physical such as choking, beating, female genital mutilation mostly in African tribes ,acid throwing that result into disfigurement or even death if deep and not rushed to the health center on time. verbal , ,religious ,reproductive ,emotional, drug , economic and sexual abuses such as coercive forms of marital rape, defilement of below age children. all the listed forms can result into domestic deaths if not eliminated in our communities thus include stoning, bride burning, honor killings and dowry deaths which at times involve the non cohabiting family members or even relatives.
Due to Covid 19 there has been movement restrictions aimed to stop the spread of the corona virus which has made violence in homes more frequent, more severe and more dangerous. Movement limits imposed by countries around the world have forced people to spend much more time at home, leading to a surge in domestic abuse cases as reported by different researchers and institutions, thus adding another public health crisis to the toll of the new corona virus ,domestic abuse is acting like an opportunistic infection, flourishing in the conditions created by the pandemic hence running out of hand, there is every reason to believe that the restrictions imposed to keep the virus from spreading have had such an effect, sociologist who study abusive relationships have it that domestic violence goes up whenever families spend more time together, such as the Christmas and summer vacations. With families in lock down worldwide, the police and other concerned institutions are being hit with abuse reports leaving governments trying to address a crisis that experts say they should have seen coming.
The United Nations has called for urgent action to combat the worldwide surge in domestic violence. “I urge all governments to put women’s safety first as they respond to the pandemic,” Secretary General António Guterres wrote on Twitter. But governments have largely failed to prepare for the way the new public health measures would create opportunities for reduction of domestic violence. But just scrambling to offer services to those at risk. But, as with the response to the virus itself, the delays mean that irreparable harm may already have occurred and will still occur even after Covid 19 resulting from the effects caused by the disease on economy and other sectors which affect families at some point and hence we are likely to keep experiencing a number of domestic abuse cases.
. In Europe, one country after another seems to have followed the same grim path: First, governments of different countries imposed lock downs without making sufficient provisions for domestic abuse victims and not putting into consideration the opened door of its increment. After increased cases that’s only then the governments scrambled to improvise solutions.
Italy which was the first in lock down around early March, domestic violence reports began to rise, but there was nowhere for newly desperate women to go. Shelters could not take them because the risk of infection was too great and Covid 19 was the main issue, So the government said local authorities could requisition hotel rooms to serve as makeshift shelters where victims could quarantine safely because domestic violence shelters were filled up. Spain announced its lock down on March 14; France’s began three days later. About two weeks later, with abuse reports soaring, officials there announced that they, too, planned to turn vacant hotel rooms into shelters, among other emergency efforts. In Britain, the authorities waited longer before imposing a lock down. In fourteen days the southwest of the country, said domestic abuse reports were already up by 20 percent, and local forces elsewhere were bracing for the same. All this call for the support to victims of domestic abuse is a priority for the home secretary.
Eventually, the lock downs will end and have started ending in some parts of the world. But as the confinement drags on, the danger seems likely to intensify. Studies show that abusers are more likely to murder their partners and others in the wake of personal crises, including lost jobs or major financial setbacks caused by the economic depression all the world .With Covid-19 ravaging the economy, such crises are set to become much more frequent.
The World Health Organization said there were positive signs but that the situation remained very fragile amid a dramatic rise in domestic violence. The WHO urged local and national authorities to keep health and social services running to help protect the vulnerable. Therefore not only has Covid 19 claimed the health ,economy and lives of Europeans but also has left many families broken .That is because Member States are reporting up to a 60 percent increase in emergency calls by women subjected to violence by their intimate partners this year, compared to last years. Online enquirers to violence prevent support hotlines have increased up to five times, The WHO is deeply troubled by reports from many countries, including Belgium, France, Ireland, the Russian Federation, Spain, the United Kingdom, and others of increases in interpersonal violence including violence against women and men, by an intimate partner, and against children, because of the COVID-19 response.

Talking of Asia as a continent cities and towns across China locked down, a 26-year-old woman named Lele found herself entangled in more and more arguments with her husband, with whom she now had to spend every hour in their home in Anhui Province, in eastern China.
On March 1, while Lele was holding her 11-month-old daughter, her husband began to beat her with a high chair. She is not sure how many times he hit her. Eventually, she says, one of her legs lost feeling and she fell to the ground, still holding the baby in her arms .she says during the epidemic, they were unable to go outside, and their conflicts just grew bigger and bigger and more and more frequent, she said. as quarantines take effect around the world, that kind of “intimate terrorism” a term many experts prefer for domestic violence is flourishing.
In China, a Beijing-based NGO dedicated to combating violence against women, Equality, has seen a surge in calls to its help line since early February, when the government locked down cities in Hubei Province. In Spain, the emergency number for domestic violence received percent more calls in the first two weeks of lock down than in the same period a month earlier. In addition to physical violence, which is not present in every abusive relationship, common tools of abuse include isolation from friends, family and employment; constant surveillance; strict, detailed rules for behavior; and restrictions on access to such basic necessities as food, clothing and sanitary facilities across countries in Asia .Institutions that are supposed to protect women from domestic violence, many weak and underfunded to begin with, are now straining to respond to the increased demand to sensitize families, partners and children on how to live in harmony, causes of violence and effects In April, Malaysia's Women, Family and Community Development Ministry stirred a controversy after it asked women to dress nicely at home and not bother male members of their families during the national lock down to reduce the spread of the novel corona virus and increased domestic abuse.
India has gained, support provided by government and nongovernmental organizations is mostly allocated to women who face domestic violence; however, there is considerably less access to such resources during the period as some are not even aware of such resources and the fact that India women always sorrow the pain rather than reporting to the authorities, cases are likely to increase even more after Covid19, With restrictions on mobility worldwide women in India are also forced to stay in their homes rather than finding safety with friends or extended family. And in so many others countries women in Asia are passing through the same situation which include;
Unequal distribution of domestic labor. some women express an increase of workloads yet they have children to look after and take care of. As well Indonesia's National Commission on Violence Against Women has warned that many women face an increased threat of physical violence during the country's partial lock down and also urged the Women Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry to ensure equal distribution of labor in families.

Down in the United States COVID-19 is likely to Worsen Gender Inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean .most Women have lost their jobs and hence they have found themselves dependent on violent partners.
In many Latin American countries, there has been a significant increase a doubling in some cases in reports of domestic violence and murders of women and girls since stay-at-home orders were set up to contain the virus. Together with negative outcomes on gender equality documented in previous pandemics, these developments underscore the urgency of continuing efforts to empower women across the region by enhancing their voice and agency, eliminating violence against them, removing barriers to women’s ownership and control of assets, preventing teen pregnancies, and removing constraints to more and better employment.
Being isolated at home is not safe for everyone. Many women find themselves having to choose between risking exposure to the virus, or facing rising violence at home. In some countries where data is available, domestic violence has doubled or even tripled. The preponderance of domestic violence victims are women and most perpetrators are men.
In a region where already one in three women are affected by gender-based violence, the stretched capacity of response services reduces the protection and support available, which can contribute to a heightened perception of impunity among men.
A few examples from around the region highlight the seriousness of this issue. In Colombia, calls to a domestic violence helpline have jumped by 91% since stay-at-home orders were put in place. In Mexico, they’ve jumped by 36%. In Argentina, where 7 out of 10 murders of women and girls happen at home, emergency calls for domestic violence cases have increased by 25%. And in Bolivia, the city of Santa Cruz has reported the highest number of cases of both domestic violence and COVID-19. Alongside Paraguay, Bolivia also has the highest prevalence of murders of women and girls in South America.
In fact, we can be sure that the number of domestic violence incidents is much higher, because fewer than 40% of survivors report a crime or seek help of any kind. Reduced health service availability and less access to first respondents make getting help more difficult, and women may also avoid seeking health services for fear of possible infection from the virus. And girls, such as reproductive and sexual health services, including family planning. There is evidence of increases in both teenage pregnancy and maternal mortality due to a lack of critical resources in similar crises.
In a region that has the second-highest adolescent fertility rates in the world, the pandemic poses a potentially enormous setback for efforts to reduce teen pregnancies. The highest adolescent fertility rates are found in the Dominican Republic (94 births per 1,000 women aged 15-19), Venezuela, Nicaragua, Panama and Ecuador, according to the brief on Closing Gender Gaps in Latin America and the Caribbean. Teenage pregnancies have not been escaped and nor are they to be escaped if there is no address to the increased domestic violence

Coming to Africa no difference from all other continents because Women from 48 of 54 African countries are passing through the same as all women from other western countries. The women, through the Nairobi-based continental feminist organization FEMNET, reported an increase in violence against women and girls forced in to marriage since the corona virus pandemic hit Africa. The report came during the Anglo-Francophone Africa Regional Women’s Webinar on Covid-19, FEMNET has sought answers from African governments but has received no response .Irungu Houghton, executive director of Amnesty International’s office in the Kenyan capital, says since the outbreak of Covid-19, his organization has seen a rise in gender-based and domestic violence across many countries in Africa, including Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria. There has been a in Spike in forced marriages, teenage pregnancies, defilement and rape are on increase in African countries. African leaders have been called upon not to lose sight of violence against women and girls. These are issues that may be lost as countries grapple with this deadly disease. And likely domestic violence is estimated to increase as governments put all their focus on Economic effects caused by the disease hence women, children, elders and to some extent men are to face the worst effect which is increased abuse.
Uganda my home country is not any better, police records show 328 cases of domestic violence during COVID-19 lock down and they are still on increase.
Kampala, Uganda Police has recorded at least 328 cases of domestic violence during the last 14 days of the national COVID-19 lock down.
Speaking at the Uganda Media Center, Police Deputy Spokesperson Polly Namaye said that because people are stuck at home, it has increased the cases.
The police also recorded 102 other cases of child neglect, abuse or abandonment across the country. Namaye urged the public to desist from resorting to violence to solve domestic issues.
She said if a wife or husband starts a fight, one of them should walk away to avoid trouble. She called upon the people to report all such cases to police so that the culprits face the full force of the law. Land issues have not stayed still but rather increased during the pandemic and this has bought disagreements in different families in Uganda, market vendors were not allowed to leave the market so they stayed there for all the lock down period to curb the spread of the disease, this only bought good to reducing the spread of the disease but increased domestic violence as men abandoned their wives and children were neglected and yet they have been home during the lock down this has resulted to increased child abuse .
In Napak district, a woman died after having a fight with her husband while in Ibanda, a one Byaruhanga Wilson was found dead in a swamp near her girlfriend’s home. In Buikwe district, a 72 year old woman was arrested for attempting to kill her 50 year old son accusing him of trying to sell her land.
In conclusion, other than other effects COVID-19 has caused to the different countries all over the world, it has also increased domestic violence.
However if we hold hands together we can help Curb the increasing domestic violence following the possible solutions a case in point closing the critical gender gaps, sensitization, counseling to reunite the broken families, improvising employments and other possible solutions.
Hence a call to any University or Organization to coordinate this project. By the title; “The Curbing Of Domestic Violence During and After Covid 19”