Good morning, here’s Martin Bellam in London. This was not the most luxurious morning news yet, and the topic continues with a somewhat dismal report from the European Union’s human rights agency, which says the coronavirus pandemic has had an unprecedented and profound impact on human rights, fueling racism and racism. Child abuse.
“The pandemic and the reactions it has provoked have exacerbated existing challenges and inequalities in all areas of life, particularly vulnerable groups,” says the annual report of the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA).
“It has also led to an increase in racist incidents,” she added, describing the pandemic’s impact on rights as “profound.”
Marginalized groups such as Roma, refugees and immigrants were not only at greater risk of contamination, but also lost their jobs due to strict lockdown measures. In addition, they were the targets of “racist and xenophobic incidents, including verbal insults, harassment, physical assault and online hate speech,” according to evidence collected by the FSA and other groups.
The report said domestic violence and sexual assault also increased in 2020. It quoted sources in the Czech Republic and Germany as saying that calls to national domestic violence hotlines rose by 50 percent in the first and by 20 percent in the second between March and June last year.
The agency, citing Europol, said online child sexual abuse had also increased.
The agency urged countries to respond to the pandemic and an “unprecedented collective challenge” to human rights through “balanced measures that are based on law” and that are “temporary and proportionate”.
The Agence France-Presse that the report covers 27 member states of the European Union, along with North Macedonia and Serbia.
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