Crisis leads to increase in domestic abuse cases
THE lockdown has unlocked a wealth of community support and brought out the best in many people and communities all over the country. But it’s not the same for the those trapped in their homes with an abuser. All over the world, figures show that times of crisis inevitably lead to increases in domestic abuse, violence against women and sexual violence.
The Covid-19 crisis has made home a place of fear for many. Wales Assembly of Women, an independent campaigning NGO supporting the women of Wales, has just written to Jane Hutt, Deputy Minister and Chief Whip in the Welsh Government, to voice appreciation of the initiatives she has taken in this matter.
Jane Hutt, pictured, who has long and strong links with Wales Assembly of
Women, has always been at the radical forefront of women’s rights. Ever keen on communication, she has written a widely-circulated letter to spread the word on how abuse in being tackled and victims protected during the virus crisis.
She has recorded a personal message to let those who need it know that the Live Fear Free helpline will continue to provide support throughout the pandemic and she is promoting “silent” methods of communicating with Live Fear Free, such as text, webchat and email.
She had announced a £1.2m fund to purchase disbursed community accommodation for victims of domestic abuse that will be welcomed by many, as will the £200,000 for furnishings and white goods. She reminds us front-line staff dealing with these matters have been prioritised as critical key-workers so that they can access child care or PPE.
As she says, in these exceptional times it is no exaggeration to say that our response to abuse really could make the difference of life or death to those at risk of violence. Wales Assembly of Women thought that your readers might feel as glad as they do that Jane Hutt is among those at the centre looking out for these victims.
Jean Silvan Evans Peterston-super-Ely
Please keep to the two metre rule
IT’S brilliant that our society are thanking our national services for their incessant work among us with the weekly clapping sessions.
Having said that, I have noticed from our television that some gatherings are not rigidly adhering to the two-metre distancing.
Indeed it looks like even our important services are bunching up on such gatherings.
Surely this is detrimental to eradication of the current coronavirus pandemic. Even those that live in terraced houses are not adhering to the two-metre distancing with the appreciation to our NHS and others.
If we want the lockdown to be exterminated sooner than later please keep to the rules.
Malcolm Stafford
Brackla, Bridgend
My frustration at online shopping
I AM a customer with a well-known supermarket and spend more than £100 per week.
One minute you read the supermarket has made £1.5bn, then their share price is hit. It makes you wonder if you can believe what you read.
I cannot really understand online shopping. Some book weeks in advance, now there are no slots available, not even for click and collect.
I cannot get it into my head seeing that we were loyal customers for years. What did they do with our slots? They just gave them away to somebody else.
I am really annoyed and contacted the CEO. To be perfectly blunt, I was not expecting to get anywhere, and this proved to be the case.
The Welsh Government has provided a list of vulnerable customers with serious health conditions who hopefully will be given priority slots.
When booking home delivery you cannot know what is coming until the order comes, possible substitutes are provided when goods are not available.
The Government needs to act so that farmers can harvest the crops, due to the shortage of workers, for whatever reason, or there will be a shortage of food,
We are praying for an end to this economically-damaging lockdown, praying for a vaccine or drug treatments.
Money wasted on wars and nuclear weapons needs to be spent on the appalling poverty of a disgusting world, and animals must be treated better.
This virus has mutated three times. And they say, there is no God. Richard Shurey Penygraig
Don’t try to force us to stay indoors
NONE shall pass. So, the picture of two fine police officers proclaimed on the front page of a Sunday newspaper.
Two police officers leaning on the railings guarding the deserted beach of St Ives, determined to ensure no person can enter such a dangerous area. St Ives beach one of the safest places to take some exercises during this emergency, with the sea breezes of fresh ozone waiting to fill people’s lungs, as it drifts across the bay. Police actions that are the capricious results of a government in disarray.
What in God’s name are we doing, directing people to go home and incubate, while the sun shines giving health and happiness?
It is very right that we should be directed to keep to the recommended distance. However, it would have been far better to have advised the wearing of a mask or face protection; not forcing us to stay at home in the insulated, airtight incubators, boxes, we call home. Not everyone can escape to country estates. I daren’t mention the catastrophe that awaits us in the care homes for fear of exploding.
We are now into the fourth month of this virus and still the government has yet to state categorically that a face mask does afford a fair amount of protection.
Yet Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, calls for all Britons to wear face masks, and about time.
What is wrong with our government, do they want people to die? Because that is what is happening. People are dying through their negli
The Covid-19 crisis has made home a place of fear for many Jean Silvan Evans Peterston-super-Ely
gence; even the chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, sitting in his sinecure, has not had the foresight, nay, the guts, to say a mask, if sanitised, offers a measure of protection.
A recommendation that should have become mandatory from the beginning, once masks were easily available.
Just consider the benefits if a mask afforded 50%, let alone if it was 90% protection.
Regarding heroes, so many to praise, so many forgotten, taken for granted, from our refuse collectors to all the medics, nurses, carers, long-distance drivers, the list is endless.
However, those forgotten in the past must in future be remembered, their positions given the respect, and the gratitude they so richly deserve.