By By our correspondent
A rally was organised on Wednesday outside the Karachi Press Club to mark the international day for the elimination of violence against women. The event was organised by the Aurat Foundation and other civil society organisations.
The participants chanted slogans and displayed placards in favour of protecting women from all kinds of violence. November 25 has long been marked as a day to denounce violence against women since 1981; on December 17, 1999, the United Nation General Assembly invited countries from all over the world to promote awareness and discussions on the same date to uplift the status of women.
Participants at the rally on Wednesday demanded that the government pass and implement the pending Bills pertaining to domestic violence and sexual harassment against women; uphold State obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) which was signed and ratified by Pakistan on February 26, 1996; repeal all discriminatory laws, including the Hudood Ordinance and provisions in the Citizenship Act, and the Law of Evidence; eliminate contradictory provisions in the law regarding the legal age of children accordingly; and strengthen the support structure (shelters, crisis centres, legal aid and counselling centres, burn units, etc) with effective referral systems.