Disarm Domestic Violence Campaign

The IANSA Women’s Network disarm domestic violence campaign is the first international campaign that addresses one of the most serious aspects of small arms proliferation the deaths and injuries caused by guns in the home. This ongoing campaign aims to end all gender-based violence and protect women while keeping guns away from abusers. Intimate partner violence is the most common form of violence in women lives worldwide. At least one in every three women will be physically abused at least once in their lifetime. Women are more likely to be abused in their own homes than anywhere else and their abuser is most likely to be a husband, boyfriend or other male relative.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed and affected everyone’s lives. As UN Women warned, measures to prevent and mitigate the spread of COVID-19, such as quarantine, isolation or social distancing and other restrictions imposed on mobility have increased the violence against women and girls that occurs in homes, as they are forced to stay confined with their aggressors for long periods of time. This danger is heightened even more when there is a firearm in the home.