26. As documented by Physicians for Human Rights and the International Network of Civil Liberties Organizations, the pain and incapacitation inflicted through the use of less-lethal weapons such as kinetic impact projectiles, water cannons, stun grenades and acoustic weapons typically do not result in the orderly dispersal of protesters. On the contrary, their use “for crowd dispersal is often counterproductive, as they cause confusion and panic resulting in additional injuries as well as an escalation of violence”62. URGENT NEED TO STEP UP THE PROTECTION OF THOSE IN A SITUATION OF HEIGHTENED VULNERABILITY 27. Poor and underprivileged people are disproportionately exposed and affected by abusive policing amounting to torture and other ill-treatment. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the fore the protection gaps and the vulnerabilities of marginalized groups. 28. In the Philippines children were reportedly locked in a coffin and youths in a dog cage. In Argentina, a video has been authenticated in which a police officer hits a homeless person because he was on the streets during confinement. Persons deprived of liberty live in many countries around the world in overcrowded, unhygienic conditions. Personal distancing is hardly possible leading to high infection rates. 29. Migrants and refugees are stuck in overcrowded housing, camps, or detained in centers, without appropriate health care, others are left on the street exposed to the virus and targeted with inhuman and degrading treatment. Women face worldwide an alarming increase of domestic violence and face difficulties in accessing judicial, police and health services. 30. We are witnessing how governments have increased harassment and arrest of human rights defenders, opposition activists and independent journalists. In the name of protection against COVID-19, civil society space is further closing. 31. Against this backdrop, the anti-torture international legal framework and international protection mechanisms are key to foster the adoption of more robust measures to curb entrenched discriminatory patterns and attitudes, in particular within the security and justice apparatus, triggering violations of the right to be free from torture and other ill-treatment. 62. Ibid. 11