Japan Press Weekly

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2020 April 8 - 14 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

NPO for domestic violence survivors calls on gov’t to tackle DV and child abuse which are increasing amid corona crisis

Child counseling workers and organizations working to support domestic violence survivors have been expressing concerns that since the school closure and the stay-at-home request were implemented, the situation of domestic violence and child abuse has become more serious.

An NPO providing support to domestic violence victims, the All Japan Women's Shelter Network, at the end of March submitted to Prime Minister Abe a written demand calling for government measures to prevent domestic violence and child abuse under the current conditions associated with the coronavirus crisis.

The NPO demanded that the government keep counselling centers open in order to prevent a life-threatening situation during the state of emergency. It demanded an increase in the number of telephone lines for the counselling service, shelters for victims, and facilities for abused children. It also called for government measures that enable domestic violence victims to be protected immediately after they relocate to shelters operated by municipalities or civil organizations.

The NPO’s request pointed out that when introducing financial support programs, such as a program to provide cash benefits, the government should use special care so that domestic abuse victims and their children who keep their addresses secret can be covered by the support programs.

In France, in only one week after the stay-at-home order was announced, the number of domestic violence cases increased by 32%. In France, Italy, and other European nations, the governments already implemented necessary measures to prevent an increase in domestic abuse amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Meanwhile, regarding the issue of child abuse and neglect in the home, a counselling center worker angrily said to Akahata that the government failed to take appropriate responses for lack of awareness of serious problems pertaining to the school closure.

This worker also said that since the temporary shutdown, no report came from schools about child abuse, which makes it impossible for counselling centers to find out what happens to children who are abused by their parents. As an example, the worker referred to children whose only guaranteed daily meal is the school lunch. The worker expressed his/her concern that these children may not have enough food to maintain their health.

The worker pointed out that as schools play a role in monitoring children’s physical and emotional conditions, it is necessary to secure children’s safety by such means as enabling abused children to go to schools as a safeguard action based on counselling centers’ judgement.