So far in 2020 an est. 5 women are dying violently each month in Australia

By 21 May 2020 21 women had been killed violently in Australia.
Five days later on 26 May the count went up to 22 women.

ABC News, 23 May 2020:

When news of the coronavirus shutdowns began to break, Joan* says she felt sick.

"He was going to be here 24/7, it was a nightmare," she told the ABC.

Joan had been in an abusive relationship but felt she could access help when she needed.

"He would go to work and there was time for myself," she said.

But the lockdown meant those moments of privacy were gone.

She had been planning on leaving her partner. Now, that felt impossible.

"It is like being stuck, in the worst way possible. I felt hopeless. And then the beatings started," she said.

Joan, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, ended up seeking help through an online chat function late one night.

"Hopping on the phone and calling wasn't an option," she said.

In living rooms, hallways, bedrooms and kitchens across Australia, people have been increasingly using an online chat tool to seek help amid the COVID-19 lockdown.

The national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service 1800 RESPECT said between March and April, the use of its online chat tool had increased by 38 per cent.

The organisation said the increase represented close to 1,000 people, with more than 4,000 people overall seeking help through its webchats in March and April.

The organisation said for online chats, March and April in 2020 had been the second-busiest two-month period in the organisation's history.

"Between April 2019 and April 2020, we have seen a 20 per cent rise in the use of the tool overall," a spokeswoman from 1800 RESPECT said.

The national hotline said it had also seen a spike in phone calls, but mostly after midnight while partners were asleep.

"Counsellors are now taking more calls from people who at the time of contact are in the same house as someone who uses violence," the spokeswoman said.

"More people are calling the service late at night, closer to midnight. This may be when the person using violence is asleep or the conversation cannot be overheard."

People were getting in contact for three primary reasons: experiencing violence while in isolation, being more fearful due to being in isolation with a violent partner, and concerns that escape was no longer an option.

The spokeswoman said callers would often arrange for a special code word to be used if the caller felt they were at very high risk and needed police called to their home…...

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