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Family violence perpetrators using COVID-19 as ‘a form of abuse we have not experienced before’
As a rise in family violence due to the coronavirus crisis is set to strain an already critically overstretched social support system, some abusers are reportedly using COVID-19 as a psychological weapon.
Liz Thomas, the chief executive of social services organisation Wayss that helps family violence victims in Melbourne’s south-east, told the ABC she had received six reports in the past week of men using the coronavirus to threaten and coerce women.
- Mary Gearin and Ben Knight
- ABC News
“It’s horrific. It’s horrendous,” Ms Thomas said.
“Perpetrators have actually used…