Failing our women

According to the police surgeon in Karachi, more than 500 women and underage girls were sexually assaulted in the metropolitan city in 2023 while there were 4,042 cases of physical assault on them. These shocking numbers should rattle every official, every politician and anyone who is in a position of power. Unfortunately, we will only see lip-service paid to how much women’s rights and child rights matter to them while the number of these cases continue to pile up in the new year. The reason Pakistan ranks 142 out of 146 countries in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2023 is because of four key benchmarks - one of which is ‘health and survival’. When women and underage girls are sexually assaulted and physically assaulted in every part of the country, when a young girl is allegedly murdered by her own family in Kohistan on the orders of a local jirga because of a fake viral video and photographs, then we should not be surprised if we rank the lowest of the low in global rankings when it comes to gender parity and women empowerment. In its half-yearly report published last year, Islamabad-based NGO Sahil said that an average of 12 children per day were subjected to sexual abuse in Pakistan, and a total of 2,227 cases of child sexual abuse were reported between January and June 2023.

Every political party and those in positions of power use women’s rights as an convenient talking point but are suspiciously silent when it comes to the numbers of rape cases, assault, sexual harassment, underage marriages, forced conversions of women belonging to relligious and other minority groups. In a country where women are killed in the name of ‘honour’, where women’s lives are put in danger through false campaigns just because they dare to march for their rights, where acid is thrown on women just because they dare to say no, and where women are neither safe in their own homes nor outside, then the ruling elite should admit its complicity and its failure in protecting the country’s women from crime. Even as we write this, Baloch women are out on the cold streets in Islamabad, asking for the return of their loved ones who have been missing for decades. And what has the state’s first response been? To arrest them and then gaslight them. This is the reality of the ruling elite of Pakistan. Women have come a long way through their own struggle in Pakistan but it is in no part thanks to the state and the power elite.

What Pakistan needs to do is to go beyond the legal domain and address the underlying social and cultural factors that perpetuate gender-based violence. This includes challenging harmful gender norms and stereotypes, promoting gender equality and women’s rights, and providing comprehensive education to both girls and boys regarding violence and patriarchy. By promoting a culture of equality and consent, we can create a society where women and girls can live free from the fear of sexual violence.