Andrew
Close to 100 000 cases of gender-based violence (GBV), translating to 105 cases per day, have been recorded over the past two-and-a-half years, according to Musasa Project, a GBV-focused non-governmental organisation.
The sharp increase during the period has been attributed to the impact of Covid-19, which largely saw victims, mostly women and girls, being isolated together with their abusers.
Musasa Project recorded 40 536 cases of GBV in 2020, compared to 32 707 in 2019.
There was also an increase in survivors taken in by the NGO last year.
Musasa Project executive director Ms Vimbai Meda said the institution mostly recorded physical and sexual violence cases.
“The Covid-19 era was very telling of the way we are in terms of our response to GBV,” she said at the Spotlight Initiative High-Level Political Compact (HLPC) roll-out and stakeholder engagement on Thursday.
“It exposed a pressing need to collectively apply our minds and ourselves to how we can minimise the impact of emergencies on women and girls because Covid-19 may not be the last emergency that we see.”
The HLPC is a strategic initiative to eliminate GBV particularly against women and girls.
Online Reporter