Paris — At a high-level event on the final day of the landmark Generation Equality Forum in Paris, UN leaders, feminist and youth activists, policy makers, and influencers called on men everywhere to step up and take accountability in the fight to end violence against women.
The urgency of this call is set against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has triggered escalations in gender-based violence against women and girls. Across the globe, physical and sexual violence, domestic abuse, femicide, trafficking, child marriage and female genital mutilation have risen exponentially, exceeding already alarming levels. For instance, in 2020, calls to helplines increased up to five-fold in some countries during the first weeks of the coronavirus outbreak, while in others, women were unable to seek help, sheltered in place with their abusers.
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