GUWAHATI, Nov 27 - The 181 women helpline has received 471 cases of violence against women from March 15, 2018 to November 25 this year in Kamrup Metro district, which is the highest among all districts of Assam. The helpline, which provides 24 hours emergency response to women affected by violence,�was set up by the Directorate of Social Welfare, Assam.
�Violence against women has been increasing over the years. Most of the cases relate to domestic violence. The helpline has registered 653 cases from January 1 to November 25 this year in Assam, of which the majority are domestic violence incidents. Altogether, 1,639 cases were reported on the helpline in Assam in the past two years,� helpline manager Neelakshi Sarma said.
�The number is much higher in the city mainly because of the high crime rate. The department had organised various awareness programmes for women here,� she added.
The helpline provided legal advice to 414 cases and police assistance to 730 cases in the last two years. The helpline registered 986 cases of crimes against women last year.
As many as 166 cases have been reported during the past one and a half years in Kamrup district, 129 from Nagaon district, 83 from Barpeta and 62 from Dibrugarh.�Jorhat and West Karbi Anglong reported the lowest number of cases � two and one � respectively.
The helpline also receives cases relating to child sexual abuse, cyber crime, child trafficking, property dispute and others.
�We also receive a lot of cases related to cyber crime. Girls should use social media wisely and they shouldn�t share their intimate photos, videos and any kind of personal information with anyone,� she said.
�Apart from the helpline number, there are four family counselling centres in the city, run by NGOs which�tackle cases of domestic violence, physical abuse, dowry, family and property dispute, mental torture, cheating and problems related to alcoholism,� a source in the Social Welfare department said. �
There is also a special cell for�women�at the Panbazar Police Station, which was set up in 2016 as a joint venture between the Tata Institute of Social�Sciences, National Commission for�Women�and the Assam Police.
