K-P launches helpline against domestic violence

The helpline would also help the government in data collection on cases of domestic violence

PESHAWAR: Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa social welfare directorate launched a helpline – Bolo Helpline 0800-22227 – established to prevent violence against women and facilitate them in all emergency situations.

The provincial government, led by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), is still struggling to enact a law to prevent violence against this marginalized segment of society.

This is not first such effort – Awami National Party (ANP) had also launched helpline centers for filing complaints and counseling in three districts, Nowshera, Mardan and Peshawar.



These helpline centers stopped working after the project ended.

Now, a toll-free line is being inaugurated in several districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to support victims of human rights abuse and help women integrate as a vital part of society.

Incidentally, the K-P Domestic Violence Bill was prepared by the Provincial Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW), which failed to get the consent of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) and it is still pending in the provincial assembly.

“This is a good step … but legislation is even more important. In the absence of a proper law to eliminate violence against women, no legal action can be taken,” said Rakhshanda Naz, a civil society member.

Naz said: “There are so many helplines working across the country, but there is no liaison among them.”

Literacy rate in rural areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was extremely low against urban areas, and the nine-digit number was too long to easily recall.

Shabeena Ayaz of the Aurat Foundation agreed with the social workers assertion and said that the helpline number should not exceed more than three digits.

“In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where women do not have equal access to education, it wouldn’t be easy for them to remember this nine-digit number,” she said.

Minister for Social Welfare Sikander Sherpao said that the helpline would provide different services, including psychological help.

The helpline, he said, would also help the government in data collection on cases of domestic violence.

He said that the government was working on a new version of the domestic violence bill.

“We have prepared a draft and after getting the approval of the Provincial Commission on the Status of Women, its vetted copy will be resent to the Council of Islamic Ideology.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 9^th, 2017.