Let me assure you that there has been significant spending against violence. I agree with you that violence against any vulnerable population is unacceptable, but violence against women is deeply concerning and what we have seen during the pandemic is an unacceptable increase in gender-based violence, violence directed at women in domestic situations and in society generally.
That's why we have introduced the first-ever federal strategy to address gender-based violence in 2017 and why I am working with the minister for a national action plan to end gender-based violence. We've made a number of very significant investments over the past year. For example, over 1,500 frontline organizations to deliver essential services to survivors of gender-based violence have received significant benefits, with over six million people benefiting each year from the important work of these organizations.
We are also making other significant investments. When the cases of GBV were increasing at the onset of the pandemic, we took some swift action. We provided over $100 million in emergency COVID funding to more than 1,000 organizations providing services directly to the victims of gender-based violence. There are investments in policing, in security.
We are bringing forward other legislation relevant to this, but we recognize in these circumstances that organizations that do the work in communities on the ground need our support and we've been working very hard to make sure that they receive that support, which is reflected in the budgets that I bring before you today.