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Ammon News - Jordan witnessed a “dramatic increase” in domestic violence in 2020 as a total of 54,743 cases were recorded during last year, the Higher Population Council (HPC) said citing the annual report by the Family Protection Unit at the Public Security Directorate (PSD).

The report was released on the occasion of International Non-Violence Day, annually marked on October 2, the birth anniversary of India’s independence icon Mahatma Gandhi.

According to the report, the majority of domestic violence cases, 82 per cent, were perpetrated by husbands against their wives.

The report said that 58.7 per cent of the recorded cases witnessed physical abuse, while 34 per cent of the victims reported sexual violence.

PSD’s report also added that 27.7 per cent of the total victims were young children.

“Most of the domestic violence victims are females, either a wife, sister, daughter, mother or a child,” Abla Amawi, HPC secretary general, said in a statement.

The International Day of Non-Violence promotes non-violence through education and public awareness, according to the UN website.

The International Day of Non-Violence is a day to reaffirm “the universal relevance of the principle of non-violence” and the desire to “secure a culture of peace, tolerance, understanding and non-violence”, according to the HPC statement.

According to the HPC, women and girls experienced excessive forms of domestic violence and sexual harassment and abuse during last year.

These forms of violence have increased since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic as countries like Jordan imposed lockdowns and home quarantines in March 2020.

Globally, 736 million women — that translates to a third of all women — have been subjected to physical or sexual violence across their lifetimes, according to the report.