Police and society needs to be gender sensitive, says K. Ajitha
Alcoholism and drug abuse among men coupled with dowry system are the major reasons for domestic violence in the State, according to K. Ajitha, president of Anweshi Women’s Counselling Centre in Kozhikode.
“The drug or alcohol in the system makes men more violent than usual,” she said in her social media post on Friday.
Anweshi is one of the service providers in Kozhikode district for women in distress, and more than 70% of cases received by the centre every year pertain to domestic violence.
Ms. Ajitha stressed the need for the police and society to behave in a gender-sensitive manner to encourage women to come out with their problems.
She also called for a thorough restructuring of the Protection of Women against Domestic Violence Act if people were to raise their voice against dowry. “When both giving and receiving dowry are criminal offences, nobody is likely to report transactions,” she said.
Speaking to The Hindu, Ms. Ajitha said there had been a rise in incidents of domestic violence during the lockdown. “The figures many not show it, but that is the truth. It is only that the suffering women are not in a position to report domestic violence, with families staying indoors most of the time. Also, service providers are unable to act in an effective manner owing to restrictions. While Anweshi had received around 230 cases in 2017-18 and 2018-19, of which around 75% were those of domestic violence, it received only 166 cases in 2019-20, of which 128 were domestic violence cases. Meanwhile, 2020-21 saw 132 cases reported until March 2021 of which 93 were domestic violence cases,” she said.
