Symbolic image of violence against women © 271 EAK MOTO (shutterstock)
The Catholic Church in Bolivia fears increasing attacks against women and girls in the Corona pandemic. United Nations also concerned about increase in violence against women.
The "spiral of violence against women" must be ended, the bishops' conference of the South American country wrote in a statement to the Ministry of Justice on Monday (local time), according to Bolivian media.
Quarantine has deepened structural problems in society
Previously, the abuse and death of a nine-year-old girl in El Alto had caused horror in the country. The child is just one of a long list of girls and women who have been victims of violence in Bolivia, the bishops said. The necessary quarantine has deepened many structural problems of society, he said. One of them, he said, was domestic violence against women.
According to prosecutors, during the first two months of the quarantine, some 3.000 acts of violence and aggression against women and girls registered in Bolivia.
United Nations concerned about increase in domestic violence
The United Nations also expressed concern about a worldwide increase in domestic violence in the Corona crisis. This "pandemic within the pandemic" must be urgently and decisively countered, it was said in Geneva on Tuesday. School closures, in particular, put many girls at increased risk of sexual exploitation, early pregnancy or forced marriage, he said.