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Women starved, confined and severely beaten as domestic violence increased locally during pandemic lockdown | Kawartha 411 KAWARTHA LAKES-"Often the women were severely beaten, so much they needed medical attention. There were some who had been confined, starved and deprived of the necessities of life." Carolyn Fox, Fund Development Coordinator at Women's Resources in Lindsay told Kawartha 411 News. The pandemic has been hard for many people but for some local women it's been dangerous. Fox says during the initial pandemic lockdown in March the phones stopped ringing and there was an eerie silence. "The numbers dropped significantly because women had no opportunity to reach out. The eerie silence, especially during lockdown, was no phone's ringing, hardly anyone calling." Fox explained. "The women were trapped in their own homes, unable to use a phone, computer or leave without their abusers catching them." Women's Resources of Kawartha Lakes, is a not-for-profit, charitable organization created and run by local women. Women's Resources provides programs throughout the City of Kawartha Lakes to ensure that abused women and their children can get the help they need to lead lives free of abuse and violence. Kawartha Lakes Police say domestic violence calls increased by approximately 20% during the first part of the lockdown. From January 1st, 2020 to March 20th, 2020, there were 131 domestic occurrences. From March 20th, 2020 to June 30th, 2020, there were 154 domestic occurrences according to police. They expect calls to continue to go up once the restrictions are lifted. "During the pandemic our domestic calls were down at the beginning, then an increase in child Photo by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels Women starved, confined and severely beaten as domestic violence incre... https://www.kawartha411.ca/2020/11/25/women-starved-confined-and-s... 1 of 3 11/25/2020, 1:42 PM