Cases of violence against women on the rise

15,222 cases of honour crimes registered
in Pakistan from 2004-2016

Islamabad: According to the Human Rights Commission Report 2016, 15,222 cases of honour crimes were registered in Pakistan from 2004 to 2016, which clearly shows that cases of violence against women are on the rise in the country.

The statistics were shared by civil society representatives at a press conference organised by Elimination of Violence against Women and Girls Alliance (EVAWG) on the occasion of International Women’s Day.

“This is a small glimpse of what women are facing,” said Fatima Atif, Co-Chair EVAWG Alliance. She further said the world of work is changing globally, with significant implications for women. “On one hand, technological advances and globalisation bring unprecedented opportunities for those who can access them. On the other hand, there is growing informality of labour, income inequality and humanitarian crises. Women of Pakistan are still on the edge of this change and facing barriers of discrimination, low wedges, less opportunities and honour crimes.”

She said that since its creation, EVAWG Alliance has been underlining the fact that gender justice and equality are critical to counter violence against women and girls and that this must be envisaged as a cross cutting priority in all sustainable development goals.

The qlliance members said that to achieve Sustainable Development Goals, Pakistan must address violence against women and girls at all levels including structural, institutional and socio-cultural. She added, Technology driven violence against gender especially women should also be focused because people don’t think to identify this as a form of violence.

Disability activist, Abia Akram, said that women with disabilities need priority attention as there is no national policy for them. “A population of 1.37 million (as per 1998 census) is unattended and unheard,” she said. She emphasised that Pakistan is signatory to UN convention for persons with disability but women with disability have no access to basic rights of mobility and economic empowerment. She demanded that the government should include disabilities in the census form.

Inaya Zarakhel, a transgender woman, while talking to the press, said that in 2016 the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women focused on “Women’s empowerment and the link to sustainable development” which resulted in a historic commitment to the gender-responsive implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

“The “agreed conclusions” adopted by the Commission on this topic at its sixtieth session provide a detailed roadmap on how to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in a gender-responsive manner, so as to ensure that no one – no woman and no girl – is left behind. But transgender are facing hard times in the recognition of their rights in Pakistan,” she said.

Haseeb Khawaja, an activist and filmmaker, said that discriminatory provisions in our laws should be harmonized with Pakistan’s international commitments and there is a grave need to conduct an independent analytical impact study in terms of implementation of Government’s constituted pro-women laws too. He further said that honour killing is the utmost violent expression which victims are usually females in Pakistan.

Rights activist, Qudsia Mehmood, said with positive progress at legislative levels, there has also been the enactment of a discriminatory law which pushes the women movement back to the point from where it began. “With the passage of Alternate Dispute Resolution Bill 2017 by the National Assembly, the civil society of the country foresees sever consequences. Though the Bill is limited in scope and is applicable to Islamabad Capital Territory, yet it shows the government’s discriminatory attitude towards women agenda,’ she said. 

She said that despite many loopholes in the bill, the law is also gender blind and anti-poor and has failed to address the fundamental principle of access to justice for the most vulnerable sections of society. “In Pakistan’s context these structures are widely accepted as anti-women and anti-poor because it comprises an all-male, unqualified group of influential elders that make decisions to resolve disputes, including family and land disputes in which commonly women are the sufferers. Moreover, the panel which is aimed to resolve disputes has no women representation. The bill has not yet gone to Senate for approval and the civil society requests the Senate for its disapproval”

At the end all participants demonstrated placards and purple candles in hands as a message of peace and to end violence against women and girls.