As Countries Rush To Address The Spike In Domestic Abuse Cases, Russia Fails To Take Any Step

All across Europe, the number of domestic violence complaints has drastically increased since the strict lockdown measures have been put in place, restricting residents to their homes, which in turn has fueled existed frustrations and made women as well as children it is taken out on.

While countries like the U.K., Spain and France are rushing to control the issue, Russia is either busy claiming that its domestic violence case rate has fallen or is not taking any step at all.

Recently, the Russian police made tall claims, stressing that the number of domestic crimes fell by 13% during the lockdown. But some women’s rights campaigners dismissed the report as domestic abuse victims rarely make police complaints and instead reach out to NGOs, which have reported that the number of cases in Russia has more than doubled during the country’s coronavirus lockdown, as shared by Russian human rights commissioner, Tatyana Moskalkova.

In March, around 6,000 complaints of domestic abuse were made to Russian NGOs but in April, this number spiked to 13,000 in April. “The picture is rather non-optimistic,” said Tatyana.

But the Russian government has failed to take any steps to curb the same since Kremlin imposed a nationwide lockdown in late March. Nine NGOs have thus, penned a letter together to officials requesting them to set up more shelter. They also sought help from police officers, asking them to respond to domestic violence calls and help its victims with medical, legal, and psychological assistance. But no action has been taken so far to stop the domestic violence that has already been rampant in Russia for years.

In comparison to Russia, while other countries in Europe, too are facing a rise in domestic abuse cases, they are still trying to put a stop to it. Like in the U.K., which observed the calls to the helpline for domestic violence victims rise by 49% in April, has pledged £76 million to help vulnerable children and victims of domestic violence.

In France, the National Federation of Women Solidarity’s hotline number received double to triple complaints since France imposed a lockdown on March 17. To combat the issue, the French government has introduced a text messaging number, a Twitter account, plus pharmacies and supermarkets as points of contact for domestic abuse as an alternative means to reach the police.