SOCIAL-media platform Twitter has launched a pioneering local language search-prompt in the Philippines at the onset of gender-based violence (GBV) worldwide resulting from lockdowns imposed to contain the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
It works when people search on Twitter for Filipino keywords associated with GBV. By doing so, they will see a notification written in the country’s national language directing them to the hotlines of local organizations where they can seek help, together with a list of nongovernment organizations that can provide support they need.
“During this pandemic, we continue to promote the protection of women from violence. We are utilizing all the tools and platforms, including digital channels and social-media platforms, to make sure all women know that we are here to help,” said Atty. Kristine Yuzon-Chaves, executive director, Philippine Commission on Women.
“Through this search prompt, we hope survivors, or their family and friends will be emboldened to speak up, seek safety, stand up against violence, and hold the perpetrators accountable,” she added.
Twitter has partnered with local NGO, the Women’s Care Center, as well as PCW in providing assistance via the referrals of the #thereishelp service.
The Philippines is among the seven markets in Asia-Pacific where the kick-off has taken place, in partnership with UN Women Asia-Pacific, which played an advisory role, as well as leading NGOs and government agencies that provide critical emergency care, support and counselling.
Such service is now also available in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea and Vietnam, as well as in other countries across the region in the coming weeks and months. Building on Twitter’s notification service on mental health and suicide prevention, vaccination, child sexual exploitation and Covid-19, the firm is the first technology company to introduce such feature.
This is apparently because the global lockdowns amid the coronavirus pandemic have led to a “horrifying surge” in GBV, which deepens further existing gender inequalities given the burden of caring for other vulnerable individuals at home—such as young children and/or sick or elderly family members—falls disproportionately on women, according to United Nations Secretary General António Guterres.
Based on the recent report by UN Women, 243 million women and girls aged 15 to 49 years old globally have been subjected to sexual and/or physical violence perpetrated by an intimate partner in the past 12 months. Emerging data reveals that since the Covid-19 outbreak, GBV, particularly the one that victimizes the female population, has intensified internationally.
In Asia-Pacific, violence against women and girls is prevalent and widely under reported, per UN Women Asia-Pacific Regional Manager on Ending Violence Against Women Melissa Alvarado. She cited that one in three women globally experience violence at least once in their lifetime.
“In fact, in many countries in our region, the number is even greater, with as many as two out of three women in some countries reporting experiences of violence. Less than four in 10 women experiencing such violence actually report these crimes or seek help of any sort,” she said.
“As lockdowns and stay-at-home orders are getting prolonged by countries around the world to contain the spread of Covid-19, women with violent partners increasingly find themselves isolated from the people and resources that can help them.
“At UN Women, we hear that keeping services open has been hard in many countries. We are pleased to team up with Twitter to help connect women to local services currently available in their countries if they are experiencing violence or abuse,” Alvarado stressed.
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