LatAm fights gender-based violence amidst virus

Countries in Latin America are facing up to a sharp rise in violence against women as a consequence of restrictions to contain the new coronavirus pandemic.

In Argentina, 12 women have been murdered since President Alberto Fernández imposed mandatory quarantine on March 19 up until April 2, according to a survey by the femicide observatory of the non-governmental organization Casa del Encuentro.

The government has reinforced the staff to attend a hotline for domestic violence which has seen an increase of 30% in calls at a national level during the quarantine.

But in Buenos Aires province the increase has been as much 60% said Mariela Belski, executive director at Amnesty International Argentina.

The pandemic "presents us with multiple challenges, among them the possible increase in domestic violence," said Chilean Minister of Women and Gender Equity, Carolina Cuevas, in a press conference on Monday.

Chile's government reported a 70% increase in calls made to a domestic violence hotline during the first weekend under quarantine.

It has published a contingency plan which reinforces the telephone service and keeps the shelters and legal advisors operational.

Meanwhile in Mexico it is still too early to have official data, but Ana Yeli Perez Garrido, a legal advisor for the National Citizen Observatory on Feminicide, said there were signs domestic violence was increasing with shelters at "maximum capacity".

Isolation measures are voluntary in Mexico so quarantines have not yet begun to have the same effect as in other countries.

However the federal government's spokesman for the pandemic warned the current phase of isolation could "exacerbate" family violence.