Tag: human rights

  • HR ministry directs Lahore university to re-admit expelled students

    The Ministry of Human Rights (MoHR) has directed the University of Lahore to re-admit the expelled students, saying that the university “overreacted” on the matter.

    According to a report in Dawn, MoHR Parliamentary Secretary Lal Chand Malhi wrote a letter to the University of Lahore’s vice-chancellor, requesting him to re-admit the expelled students. The letter was reportedly written on March 16.

    The letter said that the university administration expelled the students without giving them the chance to explain themselves and that the university “overreacted” on the matter.

    Terming the university’s action as “moral policing,” the ministry said: “Both the girl and the boy did not commit such a heinous crime for which they were punished “severely and expelled from the university. This would destroy their career and future education opportunities.”

    “This kind of freedom[proposing] is outlined in Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to which Pakistan is party and also under the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” read the letter further.

    Background

    The University of Lahore expelled two students for publicly expressing their love and proposing on university grounds. In a video that went viral on social media, a girl could be seen getting down on one knee and asking her partner to marry him with a bouquet of roses. The proposal ended with the two hugging each other.

    According to a notification, dated March 12, the two students were expelled for “[being] involved in gross misconduct and violation of university rules and were called to appear before the special disciplinary committee [but] failed to appear.”

    Public Reaction

    The expulsion of the students in Lahore over a public proposal has created an uproar on social media with users criticising the university administration for the shallow-minded approach. Prominent personalities who criticised the university for its decision included Federal Minister Fawad Chaudhry, PPP’s Sharmila Faruqi, Shehzad Roy, Yasir Hussain and Shaniera Akram.

  • PM to meet representative committee of missing persons in March: Mazari

    PM to meet representative committee of missing persons in March: Mazari

    Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari has said that Prime Minister Imran Khan would meet a three-member representative committee of the missing persons who have been staging a sit-in in Islamabad for more than a week.

    The families of the Baloch missing persons, who have been raising their voice for the recovery of their loved ones for decades, are staging a sit-in in the federal capital against the enforced disappearances.

    On Saturday, the human rights minister visited the protest camp and assured that their reservations will be relayed to the prime minister.

    “On instructions from the PM, Human Rights Minister Dr Shireen Mazari met with the missing persons’ families this afternoon,” said a statement shared by Mazari on her Twitter account.

    According to the statement, Mazari told them that the PM wanted them to “end their dharna”.

    “He [PM] would meet a three-member representative committee from amongst them in March and Dr Mazari would arrange this meeting,” the statement said, adding that the families have been asked to “hand over the list of their missing persons to Dr Mazari so that their status could be ascertained and conveyed to the PM before the meeting with the families’ representatives”.

    “The families requested that priority be given to the missing persons of the 13 families present at the dharna,” the statement added.

    Earlier this week, a meeting of the federal cabinet had expressed concern over the longstanding issue of missing persons and directed the authorities concerned to make prompt legislation in the parliament to ensure that there was no missing person in the present government.

    Earlier this week, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Vice President Maryam Nawaz visited the camp of the Baloch families. At the time, she urged the army chief and Inter-Services Intelligence chief to play their role to address the issue.

    She criticised the government for not reaching out to the protesters, saying that it was the duty of the state to take care of its citizens.

    A bill seeking criminalisation of enforced disappearances was proposed by the Human Rights Ministry in 2018. It was sent to the Ministry of Law, but the ministry has yet to clear the proposed legislation despite the passage of a considerable amount of time.

  • Ronaldo rejects Rs8 crores-a-month deal with Saudi Arabia ‘because it sportswashes human rights abuse’

    Footballing star Cristiano Ronaldo has reportedly rejected a $6 million-a-year (Rs96 crores-a-year or Rs8 crores-a-month) offer to be the face of Saudi Arabian tourism.

    But the Middle Eastern country has not given up hope of attracting a world-class footballer to help them out, with Lionel Messi in their sights.

    According to The Telegraph, the deal on offer is understood to include the player making visits to the Kingdom and his image being used in all promotional material. But the 35-year-old Juventus striker has decided to “pass” on the offer.

    Concerns have been raised over Saudi Arabia’s human rights record as the country tries to attract world-class sport to its shores. Sports and entertainment have formed part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 strategy to diversify the economy and improve its international reputation.

    However, groups such as Amnesty International have long campaigned against what it says is the Kingdom’s use of such connections to distract from its human rights violations. 

    Meanwhile, Messi’s views on the deal are not yet known.

    Representatives of both Ronaldo and Messi, however, have refused to discuss the matter when approached by The Telegraph.

    Saudi Arabia staged the Spanish Super Cup in Jeddah in 2020, with Messi’s Barcelona competing for the trophy alongside Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Valencia. 

    In October, a coalition of human rights groups called for a boycott of the first Ladies European Tour golf event being held in Saudi Arabia over concerns it would be used to “sportswash” Riyadh’s record on women’s rights.

    Also last year, Amnesty cautioned against Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund’s attempted takeover of Newcastle United FC of the English Premier League. 

    The takeover ultimately failed after several months of waiting to pass the league’s owners and directors test.
     
    Amnesty International has also raised concerns over this year’s Saudi Formula One race planned for Jeddah. 

  • Govt officer commits suicide ‘due to NAB harassment’

    Govt officer commits suicide ‘due to NAB harassment’

    A senior government official, who was named in a corruption reference, committed suicide on Tuesday owing to the alleged harassment by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

    Geo News reported that the deceased, a BS-22 officer, was upset because of NAB’s ongoing investigation against him and others for months. According to the report that quoted a family friend of the deceased, the officer killed himself because he was “deeply stressed” due to NAB.

    A NAB spokesperson rejected the allegations. According to NAB, the deceased was not even in its custody. It added that the case was filed six months ago and it’s sub-judice at present.

    Reportedly, the deceased was named in a case pertaining to the alleged embezzlement of Rs1.657 billion after the Benazir Income Support Programme high-ups awarded an illegal contract to an advertising agency.

    NAB has been accused of pressurising suspects on multiple occasions, and this is not the first time that someone has committed suicide to escape its clutches.

    It is to mention here that former Military Intelligence officer and prominent defense analyst Brig (r) Asad Munir committed suicide after the emergence of media reports that NAB had decided to file a reference of abuse of office against him. His body was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his apartment in Diplomatic Enclave on March 16, 2019.

    Furthermore, former Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) senator Sehar Kamran also compiled data which claimed that “NAB custody is worse than the United States’ (US) infamous military jail, the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp”.

    The scattered data of alleged rights violations by NAB was compiled by Kamran in a brief she reportedly sent to Federal Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari among other authorities concerned earlier this year.

    According to the brief, 11 NAB suspects have lost their lives while in custody or “as a direct result of the harassment by the agency”.

  • Fact Check: Dozens of people have died in NAB custody

    Fact Check: Dozens of people have died in NAB custody

    Claim: Several people have died under NAB custody

    Fact: At least 12 people who died in NAB custody have been reported on by mainstream media

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former finance minister Ishaq Dar has not only claimed that dozens of people died in the custody of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) but also told HARDtalk presenter Stephen Sackur to “Google it”.

    Speaking to BBC, he brought the journalist’s attention to the human rights condition in Pakistan. “What’s happening in Pakistan… dozens of people have died in NAB custody.”

    When Sackur asked him if he was claiming that people had died during detention by NAB, Dar reiterated his claim and told the presenter to head to Google to verify it.

    https://twitter.com/WaraichHaider/status/1333666178250788864

    But is there any truth to the claims made by the ex-finance minister?

    Amid conflicting reports, NAB maintains that not even a single person has died in its custody, at least not because of torture and in recent times.

    One of the most recent cases remains that of the former chief executive officer (CEO) of the University of Sargodha’s Lahore campus, Mian Javed Ahmed, who was in Camp Jail in connection with a NAB inquiry.

    He died in prison reportedly of cardiac arrest in late 2018. With pictures of his dead body still in handcuffs sending shockwaves across the nation, NAB said the teacher was not in the bureau’s but in judicial custody.

    Earlier in 2004, the then NAB chairperson had ordered an inquiry into the death of a former divisional engineer of PTCL, Agha Mohammad Sajjad, who died in NAB custody.

    A NAB spokesperson had said the former PTCL official who was taken into custody on the charges of corruption from Lahore was brought to NAB police station, where he suffered a heart attack. The official died on the way to hospital, he had said and rejected allegations that the death was caused by torture.

    Former Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) senator Sehar Kamran, however, says that “NAB custody is worse than the United States’ (US) infamous military jail, the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp”.

    The scattered data of alleged rights violations by NAB was compiled by Kamran in a brief she reportedly sent to Federal Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari among other authorities concerned earlier this year.

    According to the brief, 11 NAB suspects, minus Mian Javed, have lost their lives while in custody or “as a direct result of the harassment by the agency”.

    Aslam Masood

    Aslam Masood, the chief financial officer (CFO) of Omni Group, was arrested through Interpol when he was boarding a flight from London to Jeddah in October 2018. He was subsequently extradited to Pakistan from Saudi Arabia in February 2019. He died of a cardiac arrest on August 17, 2020 while in NAB custody.

    Engineer Aijaz Memon

    Aijaz Memon, an executive engineer serving in Sindh government’s Works and Services Department, was accused of misappropriation of Rs90 million development funds for Jacobabad. He was kept in the Sukkur Central Prison, where he suffered a heart stroke, and passed away during treatment at the local Civil hospital on May 31, 2020, less than three months after being placed in NAB custody.

    Advocate Zafar Iqbal Mughal

    Advocate Zafar Iqbal Mughal was a leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and district bar member from Layyah. He was detained by NAB authorities on October 11, 2019, in a bogus housing scheme case (a non-registered housing colony on 254 acres in Layyah). He remained in NAB custody for 86 days and after severe deterioration of health, he was transferred to the hospital only four days before death. He died in NAB custody on January 6, 2020, a few days before his hearing scheduled for January 17, 2020.

    Raja Asim

    Raja Asim was arrested in the stock exchange corruption case on March 26, 2014. After five years in custody without sentencing, his case remained inconclusive, while other accused individuals in the same cases were not pursued. Due to delayed provision of healthcare/medication for
    pneumonia, Raja Asim passed away in NAB custody at the age of 42. His death was declared after a delay of five days.

    Brigadier (r) Asad Munir

    Former Military Intelligence officer and prominent defense analyst Brig (r) Asad Munir committed suicide after the emergence of media reports that NAB had decided to file a reference of abuse of office against him. His body was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his apartment in Diplomatic Enclave on March 16, 2019.

    He left a suicide note, addressed to the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP), seeking action against NAB’s conduct against those who have not even been convicted.

    Muhammad Nasir Sheikh

    Muhammad Nasir Shaikh, additional director (land) of KDA was arrested by NAB on November 27, 2015, for alleged China-cutting and land grabbing. With his death in April 2019, he became the second KDA official held without prosecution and to pass away in custody.

    Professor Dr Tahir Amin

    Professor Dr. Tahir Amin, a renowned educationist, international relations expert and the vice chancellor of Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU) Multan was accused of nepotism and financial malpractice. NAB chief initiated a probe against him on the complaint of a former colleague. Under tremendous stress, he also made an abortive attempt to commit suicide and later died of a heart attack on April 5, 2019.

    Qaisar Abbas

    Qaisar Abbas was arrested in Nandipur Power Project Case on August 30, 2018, he was shifted to the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) after complaining of chest pain. He passed away on October 1, 2019.

    Chaudhry Arshad

    Chaudhry Arshad, chairperson of Members Welfare Committee of Ministry of Commerce Employees Cooperative Housing Society (MOCECHS), was arrested by the anti-graft watchdog over charges of corruption allegedly leveled by corrupt officials with nexus of land mafia.

    According to reports, Chaudhry Arshad was under severe pressure to sign documents in a bid to occupy the housing society when he suffered a heart attack and passed away on August 7, 2018.

    Muhammad Saleem

    Muhammad Saleem, deputy director (revenue) of the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) was apprehended by NAB in September 2017 in connection with LDA commercialisation fee corruption case on the basis of an anonymous complaint.

    Despite suffering from liver disease, he was sent to Camp Jail on judicial remand by an accountability court. When his health deteriorated, he was shifted to Services Hospital where he died in NAB custody on December 24, 2018.

    Abdul Qavi Khan

    Abdul Qavi Khan, another KDA officer was arrested on November 27, 2015, he was accused of illegal construction and sale/purchase of plots in a housing scheme named “University Hill Villas”. He died under mysterious circumstances at Central Jail Karachi.

    “NAB’s little respect for human rights is widely known. The extent to which human rights are violated by NAB can only be established by documentation, a process in which this institution is obviously not interested. Surprisingly, NAB victims too have not attempted a record-based assessment of this important institution’s performance. In this situation a fact sheet prepared by former senator Sehar Kamran can only be welcomed. The first shocking fact presented in this report is that NAB is allegedly responsible for causing 12 deaths,” writes human rights champion IA Rehman.

    VERDICT: TRUE

  • Citizens cannot ‘speak against state’, says high court

    Citizens cannot ‘speak against state’, says high court

    The Peshawar High Court has said that Pakistani citizens have no right to speak against the state, as they are bound to “respect and follow” the laws of the country.

    The acting chief justice of the PHC, Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan, made these remarks while hearing a plea of Prof Ismail– the father of activist Gulalai Ismail — against the cancellation of his bail, reported Voicepk.net.

    The acting CJ said that citizens cannot be granted the right by the court to criticise the state. During the hearing on November 23, the deputy attorney general told the court that Prof Ismail posted ‘anti-state tweets’ on his social media account.

    As per the prosecution, Prof Ismail had posted on Twitter: “When the TikTok star Hareem Shah can enter the Foreign Office, the country does not fulfill the definition of a state.”

    At this, the judge said such remarks were “unbecoming of a teacher”, adding these messages would have an adverse impact on his students as well. The judge said a citizen was bound to respect and follow the laws of the state. The judge addressed Prof Ismail and said that he should not misuse the relief if he’s granted bail.

    When the judge summoned Prof Ismail to the rostrum, the latter spoke in a harsher tone. This irked the judge, who said the petitioner called himself a teacher, but he did not even know how to talk. The lawyer tried to handle the situation and said his client was suffering from high blood pressure and that his family was facing harassment allegedly by the law enforcement agencies.

    Nevertheless, the court sought an apology from the petitioner and adjourned further hearings until Friday, November 27.

    Prof Ismail was granted conditional bail by the PHC in Oct 2019. A single-member bench of the high court, comprising Justice Qaiser Rasheed, had instructed Prof Ismail to “be careful” in the future while asking him to submit a surety of Rs100,000 as well as personal guarantees from two individuals, a report in Dawn said.

    Gulalai Ismail’s parents are facing charges of financing terrorism, allegedly for funneling money from their daughter toward terrorist activities. They deny the charges and are currently out on bail but have been ordered not to leave Pakistan.

    In October this year, an anti-terrorism court in Peshawar had indicted the parents of rights activist and Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) leader Gulalai Ismail ‘on charges of actively aiding’ two terrorist attacks carried out by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan in 2013 and 2015.

  • Senators wipe the floor with Lahore CCPO after he contradicts motorway rape timeline, gives personal opinion

    Senators wipe the floor with Lahore CCPO after he contradicts motorway rape timeline, gives personal opinion

    Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Umar Sheikh once again found himself in trouble when talking to the Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights to talk about the motorway gang-rape case on Monday.

    There seemed to be discordant information about the authorities’ response time to the victim’s distress call when her car broke down on the M11 Motorway. The CCPO said that it took approximately 28 minutes to reach the area, while the officers who actually responded to the distress call said that they reached the area in under six minutes.

    The purpose of the hearing was to discuss the case regarding the horrible gang-rape and mugging of a mother travelling with her children at night on the Lahore-Sialkot motorway. The incident led to country-wide protests and calls for reforms in laws pertaining to sexual assault, specifically with a call for public hangings of the perpetrators.

    CCPO Sheikh said during the hearing that the woman was travelling without her husband’s permission, but soon thereafter admitted this was just a “guess”. He was reprimanded by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Krishna Kumari Kohli, a member of the Senate committee, who also told him not to make any such assumptions in the future.

    When the committee reprimanded him for giving his “personal opinions” instead of stating facts of the case, Sheikh backtracked and said that “he had been told that the victim had left late at night because she had to talk to her husband on video call”.

    The CCPO found himself in even hotter water when he forgot the name of the prime suspect in the case. Abid Ali has been on the run for the past 20 days and the eight special teams — comprising personnel from all of the Punjab Police’s departments — have failed to apprehend despite spotting him at least thrice across the province.

    Sheikh said, “If [police helpline] 15 had received the call, we could have reached that place in 25 minutes. The first call to 15 was at 2:47 am made by a passerby and the 15 officials reached at 3:15 am” while addressing the committee.

    In reply, Marri said either the CCPO lacked the correct information or the committee had been misled.

    “The call came at 2:47 am and the first [Dolphin Force] officer arrived at 2:53 am. I’m telling you the 100% truth,” the CCPO responded.

    “Then your cops are lying,” Marri shot back at him.

    “My job is to stop the crime and catch the culprits,” Sheikh replied. “Neither is there a CCTV [camera] at the toll plaza nor is an actual toll tax receipt given.”

    “Five technologies were used in the motorway rape case; geo-fencing, DNA filing, and fingerprint technology. Even the American police do not respond [to a crime] in six minutes,” he added.

    The committee members expressed anger over the contradiction in the police officer’s statement.

    “You say the police arrived at the scene in 28 minutes but the police said they had reached in six minutes,” the committee said. “The police tried to misguide the committee”.

    The CCPO’s repetitive apologies seemed to further irritate the committee.

    https://youtu.be/ClY85ZLGsFU

    “The CCPO only apologised out of fear of the court,” PkMAP Senator Usman Kakar said.

    Sheikh told the committee that Abid’s data had successfully been found from the Punjab Forensic Science Agency’s (PFSA) 2013 records. “The first case of Daniel Pearl in Pakistan was solved with [the use of] DNA,” he said.

    To which, Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, the chairperson of the Senate committee, asked why Abid had been released. At this, Lahore’s top cop simply sought forgiveness once more.

    “Babar Malhi’s blood and DNA have also matched,” he said.

    At which, the committee members paused, in shock, and asked: “Babar Malhi or Abid Malhi? Is the main suspect [named] Abid or Babar? You are investigating this case and you don’t know the name of the main suspect.”

    At this point, the shaken officer cited his age as an excuse for his poor memory and continued to seek forgiveness from the committee, repeatedly apologising to all members of the hearing. He even went as far as to say a joint session should be summoned so he can apologise to all lawmakers at once.

    He also talked about his desire to bring “court-martial law” into the Punjab police forced, touted himself as someone “who wishes to bring reforms”, and blamed leaks on his 500 people strong police force.

    He further tried to shift part of the blame in the insufficient response to the call to the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO).

    “In this case, too, an FWO officer was taken on the woman’s conference call. He told her he would send a car,” he said. “That car was on the M2 [motorway] and it took a long time to reach the site.”

    “The crux of the matter is that this alert should have been to 15,” he added.

    Speaking to The Current, Khokhar separately said that he was shocked over the CCPO’s statements. “His mix-ups have created confusion over the police response time.”

  • Protection centres for transgenders to be completed by end of the year

    Protection centres for transgenders to be completed by end of the year

    Protection centres for Pakistan’s transgender community will reportedly be finalised by the end of this year, the National Assembly was informed during a discussion on the harassment of the community across the country.

    Parliamentary Secretary for Human Rights Lal Chand Malhi said this was a devolved subject and three incidents of violence against the transgender community have been reported in the federal capital alone in the last three years.

    He said these were murder cases and “arrests have been made and strict action has been taken against the culprits, as all are equal citizens”.

    But PTI lawmaker Asma Qadeer said that nine cases have been reported in nine months expressing conflict about the figures. However, she did not mention the city.

    “Transgender people who demand alms at traffic signals are not only harassed by the general public but also by the beggar mafia. You are saying that transgender people have equal rights, but the fact is that they are not allowed to be buried in the graveyards of the general public, they are denied admission in hospitals, etc,” she said.

    Another ruling party lawmaker, Zille Huma said that movements must be run in the media and on social media for the protection of transgender people, adding that seats should also be allocated for transgender people in vocational institutes.

    As per reports, Pakistan’s transgender population is currently 10,400.

    The National Assembly had passed the landmark Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill in 2017, which enables trans people to be recognised as they perceive themselves and register with the government institutions as transgenders. It also gives them basic rights such as having driver’s licenses and passports.

  • Osman Khalid Butt is demanding a ban on child domestic labour

    Osman Khalid Butt is demanding a ban on child domestic labour

    The brutal torture and murder of an eight-year-old child maid in Rawalpindi has sent waves of horror across the entire country. While many celebrities have raised their voice for Zohra, Osman Khalid Butt is demanding the government to abolish child labour.

    Read more – Murdered minor housemaid’s torture was recorded on cell phones

    Sharing a list of laws which apply on child labour and explaining their shortcomings, Butt said, “If we want change beyond #JusticeforZohra, we need to raise our collective voice to amend our child labour laws.”

    Butt asserted that we cannot let another case just go by and should continue to raise voice until the laws are amended to protect the rights of children. He also encouraged people not to employ children as domestic help and “speak out if members of you family/friends have”.

    “Can’t stress enough that until child labor laws are amended and implemented, we won’t see change,” concluded Butt.

    When a user commented that “families livelihood depends” on child labour, Butt responded that a better way to help is by sending a child to school.

    Mahira Khan, who had earlier condemned the brutal murder of Zohra, endorsed Butt’s point of view.

    Meanwhile, among those who raised their voice for Zohra include Momina Mustehsan, Maya Ali and Ushna Shah.

    THE INCIDENT

    Eight-year-old child maid Zohra Shah was allegedly beaten to death by her employers for releasing their prized parrots from a cage. According to reports, she opened the cage to feed the birds on Sunday, only for the birds to fly away. This enraged her employers who then beat her unconscious before dumping her at a nearby hospital. She died of her injuries.

    According to the first information report (FIR), the victim was alive when she was brought to the hospital. She had injuries on her face, hands, below her rib cage and legs. The FIR stated that she also had wounds on her thighs which suggested that she might have been sexually assaulted. Police have sent samples for forensic examination to confirm if an assault took place and are yet to receive a report.

    The couple behind the heinous crime has been arrested.

  • Ministry for HR introduces helpline for victims of domestic abuse

    Ministry for HR introduces helpline for victims of domestic abuse

    With everyone under lockdown, it is being feared that cases of domestic violence and abuse will spike in the coming days. It has already been reported that cases of abuse are on the rise in Europe. The stress caused by social isolation coupled with fears around job security and financial difficulties is exacerbating tensions and increasing the risk of domestic and sexual violence against women and children.

    “For many people, their home is already not a safe place,” says a German federal association of women’s counselling centres and helplines.

    The case in Pakistan is also similar. You may have read accounts of people relating stories of their domestic staff begging them to let them come to work because they are miserable at their homes and face abuse there.

    Keeping this in mind, the Ministry of Human Rights has launched a helpline for those who are vulnerable or are facing any kind of abuse.

    In a tweet, the ministry shared the numbers of helplines and wrote, “Lockdowns and quarantine measures often leave women and children vulnerable to domestic abuse and violence – which is known to rise during emergencies.”

    “Our helpline is here to help you,” they added.

    Last week, The Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla Parker Bowles, also extended her support and reached out to those who may be victims of domestic violence and abuse.

    Meanwhile, according to a report in The Guardian, “Women and children who live with domestic violence have no escape from their abusers during quarantine, and from Brazil to Germany, Italy to China, activists and survivors say they are already seeing an alarming rise in cases of abuse.”

    For example, in Hubei province, the heart of the initial coronavirus outbreak, domestic violence reports to police more than tripled in one county alone during the lockdown in February, activists told local media.

    AFP reported that in Spain, which has the second-worst outbreak in Europe after Italy, a 35-year-old mother of two was murdered by her partner last week in front of their children in the coastal province of Valencia.

    France’s interior minister Christophe Castaner revealed that reports of domestic violence across the country have jumped by more than 30% since the country went into lockdown on March 17th. Castaner said that in Paris alone, cases were up by 36%.

    Activists say the increased threat to women and children was a predictable side effect of the coronavirus lockdowns. According to them, increased abuse “is a pattern repeated in many emergencies, whether conflict, economic crisis or during disease outbreaks, although the quarantine rules pose a particularly grave challenge.”

    Women rights activists across the world are demanding their governments not to overlook those most vulnerable in these situations and help them out in whichever way possible. However, they fear that if the lockdown continues, cases of domestic violence could reach unprecedented heights.