16-day Campaign against VAW– 80 per cent of GBV includes domestic violence

Kathmandu- Of the gender-based violence recorded in the country, 80 per cent are found to be domestic violence. According to the Nepal Police data, 53 per cent of the domestic violence is physical violence and 47 per cent is mental violence.

According to the statistics released by the police under the 16-day campaign against violence against women that began on Saturday, the cases of VAW registered with the police also showed that 89 per cent of women and girls are subjected to violence by people known to them. Senior Superintendent of Police of the Directorate of Women, Children and Senior Citizens Services Dr Manoj Kumar KC said it is unfortunate that the women and girls are being subjected to violence by people known to them and hence there is a need for active participation of the community to prevent it.

According to the data, 67 per cent of cases of domestic violence are between husband and wife. In the last one year, 16,519 cases of domestic violence and 4,394 cases of other gender-based violence have been registered with the police. In terms of age group, 63 per cent of the victims are girls between 11 to 16 years old. Likewise, 38 per cent of the perpetrators are between 10 and 25 years old. Likewise, 50 per cent of violence was found to be committed by showing fear and threatening, 35 per cent by alluring with gifts and 14 per cent by promising to marry.

Superintendent of Police at the Directorate Ranju Sigdel said that the data show that 89 per cent of the violence was committed by known people. This includes 12 per cent family members, nearly 23 per cent of neighbors, and 0.46 percent of teachers.