PESHAWAR: A rise of 45 percent in domestic violence has been observed in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province during lockdowns to curb the spread of coronavirus, officials said on Sunday.
The province has long been struggling with gender-based violence and only in January this year passed a bill to prevent domestic violence, under which perpetrators face imprisonment of up to five years.
The government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa operates six shelters for women who escape domestic abuse. Each of the women's shelters, according to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Social Welfare Department data, hosts 70 women. The province's population is estimated at over 35.5 million.
While it is feared that domestic abuse, especially against women, has risen across Pakistan during the pandemic, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the first region to report numerical data.
"During lockdowns, starting from March 2020 to December 2020, the ratio of violence increased by 45 percent in KP," Sahar Khan from the social welfare department told Arab News.
Khan is a project director of the social welfare department's Bolo Helpline, which was introduced in 2016 for women to report abuse in six districts of the province — Peshawar, Swat, Nowshera, Swabi, Mardan, and Abbottabad.
Since 2016, the helpline's psychologists and the department's officials have responded to at least 892 cases of violence reported by women. Over a third of the cases was reported between March and December last year.
"More than 350 women have benefited from the Bolo Helpline service within six months with their cases processed and resolved," Khan said, adding that the government is planning to expand the service to cover other districts as another wave of the coronavirus is expected.
Most of the cases registered were physical, sexual, mental, economic and social abuse, but Khan added that incidents of acid attacks and cyber harassment were also recorded.
Since only six districts are facilitated by Bolo Helpline, the actual rise in abuse across the province may be much higher.
Huma Khan of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Commission on the Status of Women told Arab News that in the wake of coronavirus restrictions, it is estimated that a 60 percent increase in domestic violence was witnessed across the province.
Activists fear that despite the new law and presence of the helpline, another lockdown might lead to a further increase in violence if curbs on economic activity leave people unemployed.
"Men have to feed their families and the lockdowns left a negative impact on their income," Naila Altaf, a social activist from Kurram tribal district, said. "(Increased) violence against women was a result of their frustration."
