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Coronavirus: Domestic abuse website visits up by ten-fold, charity says
May 26, 2020
The charity which runs the national domestic abuse helpline has had a ten-fold increase in visits to its website in the past two weeks.
Refuge said numbers have "spiked again significantly" since it started recording rises during lockdown.
The charity said the lockdown itself does not cause domestic abuse but "can aggravate pre-existing behaviours in an abusive partner".
Police figures suggest a wide regional variation in calls about abuse.
Fears that social conditions created by the coronavirus lockdown could result in a spike in domestic abuse led the government to boost funding for services by £76m .
Image caption The National Domestic Abuse Helpline can be contacted online as well as by phone
Refuge said that over the past three consecutive weeks it recorded a 66% increase in calls to its helpline and recorded a 957% increase in web traffic over the past two weeks.
Sandra Horley, chief executive of Refuge, said the lives of women suffering with domestic abuse depend on the helpline and website, which allows them to request a safe time to be contacted.
"The sheer numbers of women seek specialist support show just how vital Refuge's services are," she added.
Data from 41 UK police forces, released to the BBC under freedom of information laws, shows 19 recorded more calls about domestic abuse in March 2020 compared with the same month last year, while 22 recorded a fall.
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