As violence against women repeatedly grabs headlines during the COVID-19 pandemic, women across Europe are at the forefront of mass protests demanding government action to protect women from abuse.
Some argue that women shouldn’t risk their lives by protesting during a pandemic, but using women’s health as a reason for curbing action is a painful irony. Many women’s lives are already at risk, every day, often in their own homes.
Across the region, even before the pandemic’s onset, one in five women experienced domestic violence. A 2014 survey found that one in three women in the European Union had experienced sexual or physical violence since reaching the age of 15. Women’s rights groups have boldly called out governments’ inadequate response to this “shadow pandemic” amid mounting evidence that pandemic-related lockdowns bring a heightened risk of domestic abuse and create barriers to seeking help.
