With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, significant evidence demonstrates that there has been a surge in domestic violence and abuse towards women and girls around the world – resulting from economic challenges, and increased stress and anxieties in households. This reality only exacerbates an already worrying social issue.
In Mozambique, one in three women suffered from violence in their lives in the pre-COVID-19 era.
Different forms of abuse towards women and girls in many provinces of Mozambique have previously been recorded, especially in Chimoio, Mossourize, Gondola and Tambara districts of Manica province, where domestic violence and abuse cases against women are prevalent, with some resulting in death or loss of body parts.