Domestic violence against women in the country is on the rise. From January to October, RENEW, a civil society organisation, received over 300 complaints.
National Commission for Women and Children has received 27 cases from January until now.
Last year, Respect, Educate, Nurture and Empower Women (RENEW) had received close to 300 cases of domestic violence against women and National Commission for women and children (NCWC) 13.
The increase in the number, according to NCWC’s Legal Officer, Ugyen Tshomo, is the rise in the level of awareness.
She also said more women are coming forward to complain because they know domestic violence is wrong.
“The increase is due to people’s knowledge about the Domestic Violence Prevention Act and also on the differentiation of abuse and criminal aspect which the Act covers.”
According to a study carried out by the NCWC in 2012, the prevalence rate of violence against women was 29 percent of which most common was domestic violence.
The Legal Officer said they have plans and initiatives to address domestic violence at the national level.
“We are building capacities of the implementing agencies such as reinforcement agencies and service providers. We are also creating awareness on Domestic Violence Prevention Act and its rules and regulations. We are focusing more on community level.”
She said the NCWC is drafting the standard operating procedure for case management, referral system, and guidelines in accreditation of service provider.
Ugyen Tshomo added the commission is also planning to establish a central database management system to keep proper records of cases reported in the commission and other implementing agencies.
