“The figures are alarming, and prove that the kind of violence women and girls face in the home environment increases during the lockdown,” says Lubharaj Neupane, Executive Director of WOREC. “And there is also a need now to incorporate protection measures for women and girls also in the quarantine centres,”
WOREC data shows that the perpetrators in the 176 reported cases in 18 districts include 78 husbands, and 37 members from the family of the victims. Among the 26 cases of rape recorded during this time, two were gang rapes involving the partner and friend of the survivor.
Most of the victims of violence were in the 17-25 age group, followed by women and girls aged between 26-35. There were 25 girl children below the age of 16 among the survivors.
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Most of the victims reported the abuse to police, others went to parents or relatives. The data was collected from Dhanusa, Morang, Rukum, Kailali, Dang, Bardia, Siraha, Saptari, Udaypur, Sunsari, Banke, Syangja, Baglung, Mahottari, Rautahat, Parsa, Kathmandu and Bhaktapur.
“The workload of women has increased during the lockdown, and this raises their vulnerability to gender-based violence,” says Shristi Kolakshyapati at WOREC. “The current support mechanism is not adequate to deal with the abuse during the lockdown.”