Gender justice campaigner Natalie Collins is calling on the Church to be vigilant after reports of a rise in domestic abuse during the coronavirus lockdown. 

It comes as the charity Refuge reports that calls to its National Domestic Abuse Helpline rose by half in the weeks since the lockdown started. 

Collins said the rise in abusive behaviour was "awful, but unsurprising".

"This is not about the general stresses associated with the lockdown turning significant numbers of people into abusers, but rather that existing abusers are escalating their behaviour during the lockdown," she said.

"Most abusers are men, and these men are using the opportunity of intensive time in the home with their partner and children to terrorise and increase their control.

"With no need to modify their behaviour for their family, friends, colleagues or fellow churchgoers, abusers become emboldened, leading them to further injure and even kill their partner, family members and children."

The "Out of Control" author went on to say that the lockdown had made it harder for women to access support services, but she also called on the Government to make more funding available after years of cuts.

"It is incredibly difficult to respond effectively to this issue during this time, but women's services are doing their best within a context where their services have been systematically decimated through government cuts and competitive commissioning services," she said.

"It is imperative for the government to offer secure, stable funding to women's services for both refuge and outreach support."

She said that churches could support domestic abuse victims by contacting their local support services to find out if they are in need of financial support or volunteers. 

She added, though, that Christians could play their part on an individual level by staying alert for people who may be being abused.

"Each of us needs to be vigilant; there may be those we know who are being abused, or who are abusing a partner, and so regularly phoning those we haven't heard from recently can help," she said.

"Also we must be vigilant in responding if we hear shouting from a neighbour, when we see aggressive behaviour in the supermarket, and in offering a smile and a 'how are you?' to those we pass by on the street and in the park."

If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article, the National Domestic Abuse Helpline can be called free of charge on 0808 2000 247.