Lockdown stress, anxiety-related help only a Whatsapp away
ALEXANDRA – Experience shows likely emotion, gender-based violence from the lockdown
Many people are expected to suffer from anxiety and stress related ailments resulting from the changed pattern of life due to the national lockdown.
This is according to non-profit organisation Warriors Project which operates a free WhatsApp domestic and gender-based violence helpline. The organisation said this in reference to the likely negative emotional effects and the increased vulnerability of some women to violence by their partners when their movement is restricted to the home.
The organisation’s Yvonne Wakefield cited reports on gender-based violence including Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Violence against Women and Girls and said evidence from China indicated a drastic increase in domestic violence. “In some parts of China, the lockdown and extended quarantine resulted in an increase as much as three-fold from the forced co-habitation of extended families in small living spaces, stress from increased workload as parents worked from home and from the added economic stress.”
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Wakefield said domestic violence organisations in China noted that the extended quarantine and other social distancing measures also increased household stress over economic and health issues.
She advised potential victims to seek help from online manuals which provide information on protective measures and services that protect women and children from domestic violence during an epidemic. “These resources educate, identify counselling services, legal helplines and shelters if their situations escalate.”
Wakefield referred to her organisation’s online portal and urged victims to seek other sources which are accessible nationwide through cell phones. “Ours are free legal services also provided through WhatsApp and manned by an all female team of experienced lawyers during the lockdown period.”
Details: www.thewarriorproject.org.za @thewarriorprojectsa #WarriorsStandUp +27 83 275 2971.
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