Most EU women blame COVID pandemic for spike in gender violence -poll

[March 04, 2022]    BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Nearly three out of four European Union women think the COVID-19 pandemic has spurred an increase in physical and psychological violence against them, according to a Eurobarometer poll published on Friday.

People attend a demonstration to mark International Women's Day, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Berlin, Germany March 8, 2021. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo

The poll, commissioned by the European Parliament ahead of Women's Day on March 8, shows 77% of women in the EU think the pandemic caused a rise in gender violence in their countries, with nine in 10 respondents in Greece and Portugal saying so.

Asked how to tackle the problem, 58% of interviewed women said it should be made easier to report gender violence.

About a third of EU women said the pandemic had a negative impact on their personal income, according to the poll, which is based on a sample of nearly 27,000 women aged 15 or more from all 27 EU countries.

"The results of the Eurobarometer survey confirm what we already know: the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected women and girls in myriads of ways," said lawmaker Robert Biedron, who chairs the European Parliament's committee on women's rights and gender equality.

(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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