March 2, 2021
Barbados has recorded an increase in reported cases of domestic violence during the recent COVID-19 lockdown, many of which were intimate partner violence.
Representative of the UN WOMEN Multi-Country Office Caribbean, Tonni Brodber, said today that in March 2020 there was a 125 per cent increase in domestic violence cases, and in April 2020 an 88 per cent rate had been reported.
Speaking during the virtual launch of the Gender-Based Violence in the Workplace Project, a partnership between the Ministry of Labour and Social Partnership Relations and UN Women, Brodber said Barbados’ statistics were a reflection of an increase in domestic violence reports across the OECS during the lockdown.