Jannie
KOTA KINABALU: A total of 1,307 cases of violence against women have been recorded in Sabah between 2016 and October 2020.
Kapayan assemblywoman, Jannie Lasimbang said that between January and October this year alone, a total of 219 cases have been reported to the police.
Basing on the statistics which she derived from the Police Department, the trend seems to be rising.
A total of 218 cases were reported in 2016, followed by 242 cases in 2017, 319 cases in 2018 and 309 cases in 2019.
Jannie, who issued a statement in commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women which falls on Nov 25, said violence against women is one of the most widespread, persistent and devastating human rights violations in the world today and remained largely unreported due to the impunity, silence, stigma and shame surrounding it.
She also said the date was selected to remember the three Marabel sisters who were political leaders brutally murdered by the government in the Dominican Republic in 1960.
Jannie urged that Sabah government, in the upcoming budget, to increase its programmes to reach out to more women, particularly the poor.
In her statement, Jannie acknowledged that the Community Development and Peoples Wellbeing Ministry had informed her that the ministry is carrying out awareness programmes on the rights of women, roadshows on the 1994 Domestic Violence Act and other family-related programmes under its Department of Welfare Services Sabah.
“Apart from that, its Women Affairs Department is providing legal aid services to women who qualify for it,” she said.
Jannie said that while this legal aid service is very important for women victims, as many were turned down due to funding limitation faced by the service.
“As a commitment to women, the government in the upcoming budget should increase this service to reach out to more women, especially those who are poor,” Jannie added.
She reminded that since the Covid-19 outbreak, emerging reports have shown that many forms of violence against women, particularly domestic violence, have happened.
In some severe cases, violence may even result in death, she warned.
“Violence against women is also strongly associated with suicides and suicide attempts. This evidence is from the WHO multi-country study on women’s health and domestic violence against women.
“There are a growing number of well-designed studies looking at the effectiveness of prevention and response programmes,” she said.
In commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, many organisations has committed to a programme call 16 Day of Activism starting from 25 September until the 10 December, which is the United Nations Human Rights Day.
In 2019, Jannie said, the women’s wing of DAP Sabah successfully organized a Safety and Self-defence programme and the StopVAW fund-raising run.
“This year, we will collaborate with NGOs and communities to spread awareness through webinars, e-flyer campaigns on personal commitments, and a day of prayer and reflection for women facing violence during this pandemic.
“The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women should remind us our need to fight all forms of violence, abuse, and injustices women face, and to raise our voices to end violence against women,” she said.