16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence | Day 1

📅 Today marks the start of ‘16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence’.

📣 CAWLS are joining organisations, leaders, individuals and businesses around the globe in the call to ‘Orange the World: Fund, Respond, Prevent, Collect!’

This year has been like no other 🙅‍♀️ Even before COVID-19 hit, violence against women and girls had reached pandemic proportions.

⚠️ In the Northern Territory, we have seen a significant increase in the reporting of domestic-violence related assault since the biosecurity area restrictions were lifted on 5 June 2020.  This supports the conclusion drawn from experiences overseas and other Australian jurisdictions that lockdown has made it harder for women to seek help and access support.

We join the UN Secretary-General in calling for action to bridge funding gaps, ensure essential services remain available during the COVID-19 crisis, focus on prevention and improved collection of data.