Violence against women: K'taka topped in 2021

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Amid the rising concern about women’s safety, Karnataka has emerged as the most unsafe place for women and witnessed the highest number of crimes against them in 2021 than in any other year, according to Bahutva Karnataka, a civil rights group. Citing latest NCRB data, the group held the BJP government accountable for this.

In its report, the activists alleged that the government, instead of improving accessibility for women to existing facilities, ordered the shutdown of 71 Santwana Kendras which support and counsel domestic and sexual violence survivors.

The report analysed data from the state police for the period between January 2018 and December 2022 and claimed that more than 25,000 cases of sexual violence and molestation have been filed at an average of 500 every month. The highest number of such cases was registered in 2022.

“This data also shows that other crimes against women, that stood at 15,942 in 2022 were 14% more than the 13,513 cases in 2018. Records maintained at Parihaar at the police commissioner’s office showed that reporting of domestic violence went up threefold just in the city of Bengaluru during the lockdown imposed by the government at the height of the pandemic”, it added.

Saying that the move to shut down Santwana Kendras was a 'mindless move' by the government, the report alleged that it deprived women, especially those from the marginalized sections, of a critical support system that acted as the first line of response for those in distress. The report card did praise the government on the victim compensation scheme but said it has elaborate paperwork which prevents survivo