Actress Angelina Jolie has urged for protection of children amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Jolie pointed out that although children are not as susceptible to COVID-19 as adults, they are “especially vulnerable to so many of the secondary impacts of the pandemic on society” in an op-ed published Thursday in Time magazine.
Angelina Jolie: Children seem to be less vulnerable to the coronavirus. Here’s how the pandemic may still put them at risk https://t.co/JFxG77krrL
— TIME (@TIME) April 9, 2020
While many schools across America remain closed to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, children are stuck at home.
“Isolating a victim from family and friends is a well-known tactic of control by abusers. This means necessary social distancing could inadvertently fuel a direct rise in trauma and suffering for vulnerable children. There are already reports of a surge in domestic violence around the world, including violent killings.” (RELATED: Angelina Jolie Donates $1 Million To Fight Child Hunger During Coronavirus Pandemic)
“It comes at a time when children are deprived of the very support networks that help them cope: from their friends and trusted teachers to after-school activities and visits to a beloved relative’s house that provide an escape from their abusive environment,” she added.
Jolie linked to a report published by the New York Times claiming instances of domestic abuse have risen worldwide since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
“It is often said that it takes a village to raise a child,” she wrote. “It will take an effort by the whole of our country to give children the protection and care they deserve.”