Hello, I'm Nula McGovern on the BBC World Service, and this is BBC OS, conversations about the

coronavirus.

As countries undergo different stages of the pandemic, we hear from business owners preparing to reopen in Botswana, Turkey and the United States,

while residents in Beijing undergo another lockdown, but comforted by the fact that China has

planned for a second wave. We do see that a lot of the world has no plan and even now

as things continue a lot of places still don't have their backup plan

or their second plan second wave or third wave plan as a lot of places are still trying to

deal with the first wave.

Millions of people have been affected by the coronavirus, but for those in abusive relationships,

lockdown poses an additional threat,

refuges, helpl lines and police in many countries have

reported spikes in the number of domestic abuse cases. Ursa, not her real name, is in

the United States and she found a safe place in a refuge

after leaving her abusive partner. I spoke to Ursa as well as Mamta Chabra

her psychotherapist at a Houston area women's center in Texas. But first, this is Ursa's story,

re-voiced, and I should warn you that some listeners may find details in this interview distressing.

He was abusive, emotionally and physically.

I think looking back, I thought by us getting married

it would minimize some of the abuse that I had started to experience before we got married, but it actually got worse.

Now that I have some of the tools working with Mamta, I realize that it did get worse, but in the midst of it I thought it was going to get better.

But it went from shaking me by the shoulders to pushing me to

backwards by my neck to choking me, to eventually hitting me with his hands slapping me.

...