Family violence on the rise

FAMILY and sexual violence, border issues, witchcraft and alcohol are priority target areas for Western police.
About 50% of all the cases reported at the police station were  related to family and sexual violence but the figures could be much higher, provincial police commander Chief Insp Peter Philip said yesterday.
Chief Insp Philip, who was appointed last week as the chairman for family and sexual violence committee for North Fly, said the interim executive committee would be looking at staging awareness to advocate and disseminate information that spelt out violence as a criminal act.   
He said the newly formed committee, comprising five members, would also be looking at minimising and eventually eradicating family and sexual violence.
A two-day family and sexual violence workshop conducted last week attracted people from different sectors, including police, correctional services, health, education, churches, provincial affairs and others.
Chief Insp Philip said many young women were not aware that abusive acts were illegal.
Since he began working and going on air with Radio Fly in carrying out awareness, it has made people aware of such crimes and people are reporting them to police.
However, apart from many cases coming forward, often cases were withdrawn because of fear.