Violence Against Women Centre staff not paid in four months

Pakistan’s only Violence Against Women Centre (VAWC) will soon be forced to close its doors, putting women fleeing domestic violence and abuse at greater risk.

Staff at the all-female intake centre have not been paid since July when Pakistan held its general election. Then there are pending electricity and phone bills.

“In the budget, recently presented to the Punjab Assembly, by the new government, our centre was not allocated any funds,” a senior official, who asked not to be named, tells Geo.tv, “Our phones have already been disconnected due to non-payment. And if the electricity shuts down we will be forced to cease operations.”

Despite being cut off from funding, the centre continues to provide legal assistance, shelter and counselling to women.

In the last seven months, it has taken on 2,588 cases, of which 1,600 were of domestic violence, 234 of harassment, 65 of rape, and 147 of life threats.

Established last October in Multan, under the Punjab Women Protection Authority Act (PWPA), the centre aimed to provide 24/7 protection to women against violent crimes, particularly domestic abuse, rape and sexual assaults. Similar centres were to be rolled out in Lahore, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi in the next phase of the project.

Pakistan has been struggling to tackle gender-based violence. This year more than a 100 cases of honour killings have been reported in the country to date, 344 of sexual violence and 53 of domestic abuse, according to the Lahore-based Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

At the centre, outstanding is payroll for the 55 staff members, 15 lawyers, and the electricity and telephone bills which total Rs7.8 million.

Still, the centre is doing everything it can to serve women– even if that means working without pay. But if the financial situation drags on, victims will have to be turned away, say the staff.

“We are not able to provide the kind of services we did in the past. The lawyers working with us have also not been paid in four months, which has affected the outcome of the court cases filed on our clients’ behalf,” added the VAWC official.

Punjab Information Minster, Fayaz Hasan Chohan, did not reply to Geo.tv’s requests for comments.