KAJANG: The Integrated Safe Community Initiative, a project spearheaded by the Women's Aid Organisation (WAO), has added Kajang to its list of districts to tackle the problem of domestic violence.
The initiative, launched in Oct 2019, had previously covered four districts, namely Kuala Selangor, Klang, Hulu Selangor and Petaling.
The project, which is supported by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Malaysia, aims to create an integrated approach involving various agencies towards building safe communities that are free from gender-based violence.
The efforts include establishing One Stop Crisis Centres (OSCC), handled by various agencies, to help survivors of domestic and child abuse.
WAO executive director Sumitra Visvanathan said more than 800,000 women who are with their partners in Malaysia have or are currently experiencing domestic violence.
She said the number of police reports on gender-based violence such as abuse, domestic violence, rape, sexual assault and more have reached worrying rates.
"During the Movement Control Order (MCO) period, WAO recorded a 138 per cent increase in calls to its hotline.
"Because of this, there is a need to protect women and children from becoming victims of violence. WAO is aware of this situation and will take proactive measures to tackle this problem," she said at the launch today.
Meanwhile, Selangor Health, Welfare, Women Empowerment and Family executive councillor Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud, who launched the event, said the public and various agencies must play their roles to address the problem of domestic violence.
She said WAO's and Institut Wanita Berdaya's (IWB) Aug 2019 research showed that there is a lack of suitable shelters provided for survivors of domestic abuse in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.
"On Nov 21, 2019, the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry (KPWKM) said Selangor has the highest reported cases of domestic violence nationwide.
"Selangor comprised 27 per cent of the overall domestic violence cases reported to the Social Welfare Department from January until June 2019.
"The main focus of the state government is to ensure the safety and needs of women and children in all districts," she said.