It was a pleasure to talk to @whjm on @BBCWomansHour this week - albeit about a really sad subject, domestic abuse during the #coronavirus lockdowns in Europe: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000hdjc

Since this article was published @BBCNews, some new data has started to come through, so some updates in this thread... https://twitter.com/BBCWorld/status/1249490016180621317

In Spain, calls to the national helpline between 1-15 April were 48% higher than same period last month

Fewer people use the email service, but it's quickly growing in popularity - contacts up 733%

& new psychological help service via WhatsApp getting approx 28 contacts/day

Also in Spain, police have carried out 25% more checks on women who are victims of violence than this time last year https://twitter.com/IgualdadGob/status/1251486018387181574?s=20

As of Monday AM, French interior ministry told me police interventions for 'family disputes' (their words, not mine) were up 48%

14x more contacts on live chat service of govt website that supports victims of 'sexual or sexist violence'

(compared to same period 2019)

The 80 centres of anti-violence network @direlaviolenza in Italy have seen contact 75% higher than their monthly average.

But *new* women, contacting them for the first time, were only 28% of the total.

Their centres: https://www.direcontrolaviolenza.it/d-i-re-tutti-i-numeri-telefonici-dei-centri-antiviolenza/

That's a worry, because normally the vast majority of the women they help @direlaviolenza are new cases.

What that might indicate is something lots of people on the front line are worried about: barriers to women reporting violence and making contact with support services

Helpline calls up 30% in Austria

Danish police reporting an increase in ‘domestic disturbance’ cases + shelters in Copenhagen busy

French-language helpline in Belgium still seeing 3x normal calls

Meanwhile #Mascarilla19 has kept on spreading, including to:
France
Italy
Norway
Argentina
Chile
Uganda
Cape Verde