ISLAMABAD, Jan 8: A significant surge in cases of violence against women has been observed in the last couple of years both in urban and rural areas of Islamabad.

According to the government statistics available with Dawn, women victimisation was on the rise despite painstaking efforts of the public and private sectors to curb this negative trend.

The major factor behind the ever-increasing humiliation of women in the country has been cited as abject poverty and more people sliding down the poverty line.

Another reason for the mistreatment of women in the society understood by the public sector is lack of education, as they have not been provided with enough opportunities.

The crisis centre for women in distress in Islamabad is the only forum to provide protection to the women. The centre has registered around 2,022 cases of violence against women mainly hailing from the twin cities and surrounding areas in the last four years. The ratio is registering an increase every year.

Ms Zaman Aslam, project manager of the crisis centre, when contacted confirmed a marked increase in violence against women.

She said of 2,022 cases registered with the centre, 905 had been wound up whereas the follow-up continued in the rest of the 1117 cases. Ms Aslam told this reporter that since its establishment, the centre had also provided counselling to around two thousand couples to live a happy life.

Ms Zaman Aslam also told this reporter that the centre had arranged medical aid for around 317 women from public sector hospitals based in the twin cities. She said the centre had also provided shelter to around 234 women who had been forced to leave their abodes with no other option.

She said one of the most dismal state of affairs, which the centre had observed was the burning of women. She said since 1997 the centre had registered 90 burn victims most of them succumbing to burn injuries.

Most of the married women including children, who approach us for help were abandoned by their husbands who cited worsening of economic conditions as the main reason behind the domestic problems, which sometimes end up in temporary separations and sometimes in divorces, she added.