KP govt forms special committee to curb domestic violence

PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has finally taken a significant step towards ending violence against women in the province by establishing committees, four years after the passage of legislation.

Due to the lack of female Members of the Provincial Assembly from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the committees will be headed by woman members from the opposition, with one committee to be headed by the Deputy Speaker.

This move is a result of the K-P Assembly’s law passed in 2021 to prevent domestic violence against women, which included an amendment proposed by Nighat Orakzai, a female assembly member from the Pakistan Peoples Party, to ensure that committees formed under the law would be headed by woman members of the assembly.

The law’s implementation had been pending for several years, despite Orakzai raising the issue in 2023 and the Standing Committee on Social Welfare also taking it up.

However, after Orakzai’s efforts, the government made rules of business that were approved by the then provincial cabinet, paving the way for the formation of these committees.

The committees will be established in each district of the province, with six districts already having their committees formed. The chairpersons of these committees include Deputy Speaker Suraya Bibi for Chitral, Rehana Ismail for Peshawar, Asma Alam for Swabi, Sobia Shahid for Lower Dir, Shehla Bano for Abbottabad, and Neelo Babar for Nowshera.

This is a major step towards ensuring the effective implementation of the law and providing support to women who are victims of domestic violence.