Violence against women and girls continues to occur in Nepal despite strict law in place, according to the latest data of the Women Rehabilitation Center (WOREC).

In five months, from mid-July to mid-December, as many as 844 cases of violence against women and girls were reported from all over the country, the report shows.

Out of the total reported cases, 475 (56 per cent) cases were of domestic violence.

Analyzing the cases of domestic violence, 45 per cent reported cases were related to depriving women from resources, 29 per cent of physical violence and 26 per cent of physiological abuse. According to WOREC, the majority of the perpetrators involved are husbands and close family members who saw the victims as targets.

As per the report, the relation between the victims and the perpetrators showed that husbands accounted for 356 (75 per cent) domestic violence cases, followed by family members in 119 (25 percent) cases.

However, many cases related to domestic violence get underreported because many victims do not come forward fearing disrepute and a lack of social security. The data further showed the majority of the perpetrators of domestic violence belonged to the age group of 26-35 years (44 per cent) followed by 17-25 years (31 per cent).

The report shows that violence against women is mostly perpetrated by their family members in their own homes, said Lubraj Neupane, Executive Director of WOREC. “There is no safe place for women.

They are not safe even from the people they spend most of their time with. This is a challenging issue,” he said.

He also highlighted the need to change people’s attitude and behavior towards all forms of violence against women. “For this, there is a need to launch a campaign from the local level to make every home safe for women and girls.”