France to fund hotel rooms for victims of domestic violence, as numbers rise amid lockdown

The French government announced that it will pay for hotel rooms to accommodate victims of domestic violence and open pop-up counselling centres, as reports of domestic abuse have increased in the country since the lockdown to halt the spread of coronavirus came into force two weeks ago.
French Gender Equality Minister Marlene Schiappa said that the government will pay for up to 20,000 hotel nights to protect victims from their abusive partners. 
She added that about 20 counselling centres will be opened in stores to allow victims to get assistance while shopping for groceries. The first centres of the kind will open across the cities of Paris and Lille. 
‘‘Hypermarkets are among the few stores still open today. We thought it would be good if victims of domestic violence, or people who know a victim, could meet associations near these places,’’ Schiappa said in a statement. 
The government also announced an extra €1 million funding to be offered to anti-domestic abuse organisations to help them cope with the increased demand for services. 
According to French authorities, reports of domestic violence have increased by 32% across the country, while only in Paris they rose by 36% since the day nationwide lockdown started on March 17, recording also two murders.