Women around the world on Wednesday marked International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, highlighting how lockdowns due to the pandemic had left many trapped with their abusers and exposed to greater danger.

The United Nations said that since the outbreak of COVID-19, all types of violence against women and girls, particularly domestic violence, had intensified, with shelters at capacity and helplines in some places seeing a five-fold rise in calls.

"Men's violence against women is also a pandemic – one that pre-dates the virus and will outlive it. It too needs our global, coordinated response and enforceable protocols. It too affects vast populations of all ages, " said UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka in a statement.

Last year, 243 million women and girls experienced sexual or physical violence from their partner. This year, reports of increased domestic violence, cyberbullying, child marriages, sexual harassment and sexual violence have flooded in, she added.

In the Turkish city of Istanbul, several hundred people gathered to protest against domestic violence against women.

One woman taking part, who declined to give her name, said: "The law does not protect women as it should. We are here to make our voice heard. There are femicides happening almost every day in this country but people who are committing the crime are walking free. ".





shopusacigarettes.com]Online Cigarettes Store USA[/url]