Content_paragraphs:   The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic marked the beginning of a steady increase 
  
  in cases of domestic and gender-based violence. From January to June 2020, Kosovo 
  
  police reported 1,012 cases of domestic violence, compared with 785 during the same 
  
  period in 2019, a 29 per cent increase. During the reporting period, the 
  
  multi-stakeholder Security and Gender Group, which is chaired by the United Nations 
  
  Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) and includes 
  
  UNMIK as a member, focused on assisting women and girls in overcoming the 
  
  adverse impact of isolation measures, in particular risks of domestic and gender-based 
  
  violence. In partnership with UN-Women, UNMIK supported domestic violence 
  
  shelters throughout Kosovo with donations of bed linen and clothes, as well as 
  
  equipment to support online schooling for children living in shelters. Moreover, an 
  
  awareness-raising campaign consisting of televised spots empowering survivors to 
  
  report domestic violence was launched, and informative visual materials on reporting 
  
  cases of domestic violence were distributed. During the first months of the COVID-19 
  
  lockdown, the OSCE mission in Kosovo also launched a campaign against domestic 
  
  violence in all official languages to inform the public of the services and support 
  
  available to victims. The campaign was supported by the Kosovo Force, which aired 
  
  radio messages in the Albanian and Serbian languages.