3 things governments and donors can do now to protect women from violence
Three founding members of the Global Survivor Network share recommendations for investments that will keep women safe during and after COVID-19.
Fighting Domestic Violence
PROBLEM:
One woman per hour is a victim of domestic violence! And the numbers are increasing everyday, especially during the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While there are a lot of identified problems around this, one key issue in Germany right now is the availability of the women shelters to accommodate the women in need.
There is a waiting list of more than 10000 in the women shelters in Germany!
Adding to that, there is no visibility on the available accommodation across the different shelters within a city, thus making the process of managing the cases inefficient.
Also, there is not enough capacity to provide the women with psychological support as needed.
Please note that the focus is on women as of now, because of the long waiting list and need for support from the shelters.
SOLUTION:
- As a first step towards a sustainable solution, Global Shapers Munich Hub is in close contact with the women shelters to set up a centralized system that would give them visibility into available accommodation. This would ensure a seamless and efficient management process.
- As the next step, the Hub will be looking for social workers/organizations who could volunteer to provide expert psychological support to the women.
- The hub is also working on a web application that would allow the women escape a difficult situation by a simple click. She will be picked up by a cab and dropped off at the nearest available safe accommodation in a discreet manner (possible partnership with AirBnb & Uber/MyTaxi). This would be very useful when the abuser is around and it is difficult for the woman to make a phone call for help, for example during this lockdown.
Further reading