在疫情的陰影下，家本該是最安全的地方，但是這份安全感卻被暴力威脅著。
“呆在家裡”這個最簡單的抗疫措施，讓全球數百萬人暴露在遭受家暴的風險中。
"Stay at home" is the simple lockdown order. But what if you're not safe in your own home?
The simple measure being urged on millions around the world can represent an immediate danger to those already suffering or at risk of domestic abuse.
It affects millions of women, children, and men worldwide, although domestic violence is difficult to accurately quantify as some victims are afraid to report it. The coronavirus pandemic, which has forced unprecedented changes to the normal structure of our societies, has only exacerbated this problem.
Mascarilla 19
歐洲議會婦女權利與性別平等委員會主席Evelyn Regner表示，解決家庭暴力問題必須成為歐盟決議和行動計劃的一部分，呼籲採取緊急緊急措施保護弱勢群體。
同時，歐洲一些國家採取了新的措施為家暴受害者提供援助。意大利，西班牙和法國正在將空置的酒店房間轉變為避開家庭暴力的婦女的臨時庇護所。
西班牙政府向社會發出了“Mascarilla 19”倡議，該倡議鼓勵受害者通過去藥房說出暗號“口罩-19”來謹慎地尋求幫助。聽到代碼後，工作人員會記下求助者的姓名、地址和電話號碼，並且向緊急部門報告。法國和意大利也在本國藥房中迅速普及了該代碼。
Evelyn Regner, Chair of the European Parliament's Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality, says addressing domestic violence needs to be part of the EU resolutions and action plan, calling for urgent emergency measures to protect vulnerable people.
Meanwhile some countries have taken new steps to support victims of domestic abuse. Italy, Spain, and France are turning vacant hotel rooms into temporary shelters for women escaping domestic violence.
In Spain the government launched the initiative Mascarilla 19, which urges victims to discreetly ask for help at the pharmacy by ordering a "mask 19", a code word that initiates a call to the police. France and Italy has quickly adopted the codeword in their pharmacies too.
As some countries start relaxing the most severe measures, the painful reality is that some women and men will remain trapped, long after the lockdown is lifted.
A Europe-wide issue
疫情下的封鎖措施已使數百萬家庭暴力受害者與犯罪者一起被困在室內，他們無法接觸到正常情況下可以依靠的支持系統，無論是家庭成員，朋友還是專門的庇護所。
在這樣的背景下，家庭暴力案件數量的增加是在整個歐洲大陸上普遍存在的現象，令人憂心。
Lockdown measures have left millions of domestic violence victims trapped indoors with their perpetrators, with limited access to the support systems they can normally rely on - whether a family member, a friend, or a specialized shelter.
The rise in domestic violence amidst lockdowns is a frightening phenomenon sweeping across Europe. In Italy, where lockdown measures have been quite strict, the national association that organizes women's shelters, donne in rete contro la violenza (D.i.Re), reported that between 2 March and 5 April they took 2,867 women into their centers.
The national domestic abuse helpline has recorded a 50 percent decrease in calls between 10 March and 25 March, a worrying number for domestic violence centers in the country, which now rely increasingly on Whatsapp as a more discreet way for victims to ask for help.
In France, the police reported that cases of domestic violence have risen more than 30 percent. Similarly in Spain the helpline for domestic abuse received 18 percent more calls in the first two weeks of lockdown compared to the same period a month earlier.
In the UK, the National Health Service reminds people at risk from domestic violence that the instruction to remain isolated at home doesn't count for those escaping abuses, and that helplines, police stations and refuges are still available. Refuge, UK's largest domestic abuse charity, reported a 25 percent increase in calls to its helpline in a 5-day period during the week beginning 30 March, a week after the UK government called for a nationwide lockdown.
In Belgium, CGTN correspondent Toni Waterman talked to Jean Louis Simoens, coordinator of the Collectif Contre Les Violences Familiales et l'Exclusion. He reports that since the stay-at-home order was issued in mid-March, calls to the domestic violence hotline "Écoute Violences Conjugugales" have tripled, and have become more urgent.
Women's shelters in Germany have also sounded the alarm, and rising numbers seeking refuge in shelters have been reported in Denmark.
"[These calls] are shorter, because they are what we call "stolen moments", for example on the way to the store, while the partner is outside for a walk, with the risk he could come back at any time," says Simoens. "We have a significant number of calls of this nature, with a lot of fear, panic."
The numbers of calls into the Dutch-speaking line have also jumped 70 percent since the lockdown began. Simoens' organization offers an anonymous service, but the organization has been forced to intervene in a number of cases.
自封鎖措施實施以來，與家庭暴力有關的命案在英國，法國，西班牙和意大利都有發生。聯合國秘書長安東尼奧·古特雷斯曾呼籲世界各國政府採取緊急行動，保護家庭暴力受害者，並在4月5日發表推文：“我敦促所有政府在應對大流行病時將婦女的安全放在首位。”
Domestic violence-related killings have also been reported in the UK, France, Spain and Italy since the beginning of the lockdowns. United Nations Secretary General António Guterres called for urgent action from governments worldwide to protect domestic violence victims, tweeting on Sunday 5 April: "I urge all governments to put women's safety first as they respond to the pandemic."
Several domestic violence related killings have occurred in Italy since the start of the lockdown, including the the death of a 27-year-old woman who was about to qualify as doctor. Credits: AP Photo/Andrew MedichiniAndreas SOLARO / AFP
家暴頻發的原因既顯而易見，又極其複雜。
在正常情況下，受害者的社交網絡可以干預他們的行為，為他們提供支持，但“居家抗疫”使受害者脫離了他們的社交關係網。而對於施暴者來說，加諸在他們身上的監督和輿論壓力都減少了，讓他們可以在施暴的同時無需擔心後果。
許多施暴者會利用孩子施加壓力，疫情引起的經濟動盪和不確定性也使得受害者更加脆弱。
The reasons for the escalation in domestic abuse are at once obvious but also extremely complex. Confinement cuts victims off from their social networks, which in normal times can intervene on their behalf. With fewer eyes watching perpetrators can feel empowered to abuse their victims with no fear of consequences.
Many violent partners use children to exercise pressure, and the economic instability and uncertainty induced by the pandemic also plays a role in making victims more vulnerable.
"Women are more concentrated in the lower salary categories which makes them in unemployment much more vulnerable so they may not have the financial means to leave a violent partner with the children," said Irene Zeilinger, the Executive Director, Garance, a Belgian not-for-profit which focuses on violence prevention.
被家暴困擾的不僅僅是女性。
去年，在比利時家庭暴力求助熱線接到的求助中，有6％來自男性。而根據英國國家統計局的數據顯示，在截至2019年3月的一年中，英國有78.6萬名男子成為家庭暴力的受害者。但是專家認為，該問題的真實程度可能沒有得到充分報道。
It's not just women who suffer at the hands of abusive partners. Simoens said men accounted for 6 percent of calls to the domestic violence helpline in Belgium last year.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that in the UK 786,000 men across England and Wales were victims of domestic violence in the year ending March 2019. But experts believe the true extent of the problem is likely to be underreported.
"The problem for male victims is in particular that awareness campaigns and communication tools are aimed at women. It is therefore complicated for a man to feel concerned since they are not the targets of campaigns," said Simoens.
