About 389 cases of violence against women have been reported during the last six months as violence ratio has increased compared to last year in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said a biannual report launched by Aurat Foundation, here on Thursday.
The Aurat Foundation project co-ordinator, Shireen Javed formally launched the six-month report from January to June 2011 regarding violence against women in the province. She said that more than 389 cases of violence against women were reported, out of which 179 murder, 28 abduction/kidnapping, 81 domestic, 41 suicide, 14 honour killing, three rape/gang rape and 43 cases of miscellaneous nature have been reported.
Similarly, she said that about 259 cases of violence against women were registered, whereas 82 cases are unregistered and 49 unconfirmed. Likewise, she said that the marital status victims and survivors related cases are about 412, out of which 260 married, 93 unmarried and 50 cases are lacking information. Sharing age-wise figures of violence against women, she said that around age from one to 18 is about 620, 19 to 36 years old 76, whereas 37 age to above is around 19 cases. About 255 cases are unconfirmed of different age victims and survivors.
Giving detail of district wide violence ratio, she said that about 149 cases were reported during the last six months in Peshawar, whereas around 50 cases in Mardan, 43 in Nowshera, 20 in Charsadda, 16 in Swat, 14 in Swabi, 12 in Manshera, D.I.Khan, and Kohat, nine in Malakand, eight in haripur, seven in Dir Upper, and six in Bannu were reported.
Regarding the violence ratio against women in rural and urban areas, she said that more than 246 cases were reported in rural areas, whereas about 140 cases were reported in urban localities. She added that three cases are not confirmed in urban and rural areas of the province.
Shireen Javed said that the family dispute, property dispute, petty issues, suspicion of illicit relation, refusal to marriage proposal, choice marriage, forced marriage, old enmity, and unknown are the basic factor behind growing cases of violence against women in the province. She said that the cases involved different relations including husbands, father, son, brother, brother-in law, and father in law, nephew, cousin, uncle, mother in law, and other factors.
Mostly, he said that pistols, axe, sharp knife, poisonous medicine, kerosene oil, strangle suffocate, beating stick, beating were the tools commonly used for assaults against women. She informed that they are compiled data through print media reports, women crisis centres, and Mera Ghar. To a query, she said that they are going to collect data through own sources about violence hit women in different districts of the province.