KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 2,600 shelter homes nationwide have been given six months to register with the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry or face the music.

They are liable to be charged under the Care Provider Centre Act which carries a hefty fine if they do not register with the ministry by February.

Women, Family and Community Development Minister, Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen, said the ministry was concerned that many homes were operating outside its purview and without proper licences.

She said registration would bring with it the possibility of capital grants which could be used to improve the homes.

"That is something that we are working out right now," she said after launching the "Break the Silence on Domestic Violence, Talk to a Friend" campaign organised by the Women's Aid Organisation and the Body Shop at KLCC, yesterday.
Dr Ng said the ministry provided a daily grant of RM8 per person to those at registered shelters.

On domestic violence, she said the number of cases being reported to the police had increased due to greater awareness created by women's non-governmental organisations in recent years.

She said 3,093 cases were reported in 2005, 3264 (2006) and 3,756 last year.

She also advised battered women to use the Nur hotline 15999 to report domestic violence.

"The line is operational 24 hours and has operators who speak Mandarin and Tamil, " she said.

Ng also pleaded that the public stop using the line to make prank calls.

"In the last two months, the Nur hotline has received over 50,000 calls of which 40,000 were prank calls by children."