Aizawl, Aug 18 (IANS) Cases of women abuses, including violence against women, are rising in Mizoram, where female folk dominate in all aspects of Mizo societies, officials said on Monday.
An official of the Mizoram Women and Child Development Department said that during the last financial year (2024-25), per month 1166 cases of women abuses were reported in the department’s helpline system, while over 1870 such cases were reported per month in the current financial year (2025-26) so far.
According to the official, over 7,481 cases of abuse against women were reported in the helpline system of the Mizoram Women and Child Development Department between April and July of this fiscal year (2025-26).
Between April 2024 and March 2025, over 13,994 incidents of women abuse were reported in the department’s helpline system, the official said.
As per the data, around 71 per cent of women aged between 18 and 40 years are the main victims of various kinds of abuses, while 18 per cent of those abused are aged between 40 and 60 years, and women over the age of 60 make up 2.5 per cent.
According to the reports, alarmingly, 4.5 per cent of the abuse cases involve teenage girls, indicating that abuse is also impacting younger populations.
The abuse reported to the helpline system is considered into two main types — domestic and non-domestic.
Domestic abuse includes physical torture and violence, verbal threats and intimidation, financial exploitation, sexual abuse, and the forced intoxication of women using drugs or alcohol.
According to the official, non-domestic abuse includes harassment through social media platforms, online sexual abuse, stalking, and actions that damage a woman’s reputation and social status or lead to public stigmatisation.
In addition to the calls received by the Women and Child Development Department helpline system, varied abuse cases are under investigation by the Cybercrime Police Station in Aizawl, highlighting the rising concern of online and digital abuse of innocent women.
The authorities are currently working to address these violations and bring perpetrators to justice, the official said, adding that various NGOs and civil society organisations are also working to curb the cases of women’s abuse.
–IANS
sc/dan
