NCW received 2,914 complaints in July, highest since Nov 2018

NEW DELHI: The NCW received 2,914 complaints of crimes committed against women in July this year, the highest since November 2018 when the #MeToo movement was at its peak in the country.

According to data by the National Commission for Women, 660 complaints of domestic violence were received in July alone.

Of the 2,914 complaints, 774 were received under the right to live with dignity clause. The right to live with dignity clause takes into account the emotional abuse of women.

The number of complaints received in July have been highest since November 2018 - a period when the #MeToo movement was at its peak in the country.

In November 2018, the commission had received 3,339 complaints.

NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma attributed the rise in complaints to the increased activity of the commission on social media platforms.

"The complaints have increased because we are very active on social media now and we are registering cases from Twitter and other social media platforms too. We have a WhatsApp number for reporting cases which was not in place earlier," she said.

Among states, Uttar Pradesh recorded more than half of the total complaints at 1,461 followed by Delhi at 338.

The second-highest number of complaints were received under the protection of women against domestic violence category at 660, the data showed.

There were 493 complaints of harassment of married women and dowry harassment, the data showed.

According to the data, 146 complaints of police apathy towards women and 110 complaints of cyber crime were received by the commission.

As many as 148 complaints of rape and attempt to rape were received while 50 complaints of sexual harassment were received by the commission in July this year, the data showed.

Sharma encouraged women to reach out to the NCW whenever they wanted.

"The NCW is working for the well-being of women so they can reach us any time, any day," she added.

Last month, 2,043 complaints were received by the commission.