The period of December 2016 alone has recorded a hike in the number of domestic violence cases for men, women and children in Tonga.
Director of the Women and Children Crisis Center – WCCC – ‘Ofa Likiliki told Radio Tonga News, they were optimistic that during the festive season families live peacefully, but it did not happen.
“So the usual cases that we receive in December for the last 6 years we have between 13 to 15 cases and December is the month where our lowest numbers of cases have been reported. And we use to analyze the statistics thinking that women did not want to cause disruption in their family time, because this is family time, but we then see a peak in January where women come and report events that happens in December. But we assume that women are more confident now to come forward and report the violence cases,” Likiliki said.
Most cases were recorded in the Nuku’alofa area.
Likiliki said the centre normally reports a lower number of incidents during the Christmas break and the recent spike is unusual.
The increase in the number and severity of cases in more remote areas like Ha'apai is shocking she said and there has been a record number of new clients in Tongatapu alone this month.