Cases rife of violence against women

LAHORE: In spite of the concerted efforts of government and non-government organisations coupled with an awareness campaign to curb violence against women, the achievement of the desired goal is a long haul towards establishing a tolerant society towards women.

In 2017 alone, as many as 8,882 cases of violence against women were reported in Punjab with a 21.5% increase in cases registered in 2016. The highest number of up to 1,000 cases of violence against women was reported in Lahore followed by 756 in Muzaffargarh.

“The alarming trend of violence against women reflects a huge communication gap between the authorities concerned and the masses at grassroots level,” expressed speakers at a strategic dialogue with stakeholders for strengthening network with Mumkin Alliance to improve the situation on Violence against Women and Gender-Based Violence Services in Punjab, held here at a local hotel Wednesday.

The disturbing story about the state of safety of women in Punjab also cast a dark shadow over the performance of not just the state institutions but also the local and international NGOs working to mitigate incidences of intolerance but rather registering the increase in cases of violence against women in the province. Discussing some prominent figures from Gender Parity Report 2017, Aliya Ali Khan, Advocacy & Communication Officer Women Social & Economic Well-being in Pakistan, Punjab Commission on the Status of Women(PCSW) said that as many as 904 cases of domestic violence, 402 cases of murder, 141 cases of attempted murder and 361 cases of domestic violence as “beating” were reported. Highest numbers were reported in Lahore (251) and Bahawalpur (47).

There was 6.8% increase in reported cases of rape with 3,378 cases, and like other numbers, Lahore is again leading with 287 cases. A total of 3,301 cases of assault to outrage a woman’s modesty were reported. Kidnapping/abduction was the highest reported crime against women in Punjab as there were 11,017 cases reported showing an increase of 8.5% since last year. From the total, the biggest metropolitan city again gets the lead with 2,313 cases and Faisalabad securing the second place with 623 cases. In Punjab police, there are only 2.7% women officials and 97.3% are men. Punjab has 1,771 judges, of the mentioned numbers 85% are male and only 15% are women. With the latest registrations of lawyers, 11% are women and 89% are men.

On the other hand men are leading with 49,864 in the category of prisoners in 39 prisons of Punjab and only 961 prisoners are women from mention number 10 % women are accompanied by their children in 24 prisons.

She further said, “PCSW’s 24/7 helpline has received 66,000 calls till date which includes complaints and information calls. We are working on a project with Social Welfare Department titled “Transitional Housing for Women”. This project will accommodate the women who are survivors of violence, will train them with different skills and at the end of the year, we will make sure that they will get jobs. We have organised hundreds of interventions in girls and boys colleges at districts level, in which they have been told about the status of women with reference to religion and moral perspective.”

“We are working for women in different projects which highlights their efforts and strength in our society. We are trying to increase women representation in the field of human resource, police, judiciary and women in leadership. Some main changes are needed to be done in the SOP’s of police. For, police has to deal with the survivors of the violence and different cruelties,” she added.

Director Planning Social Welfare Department, Punjab, Salman said, “In March 2016, computerised and completely female-run Violence Against Women Centre (VAWC) has been established in Multan as part of the Punjab Protection of Women Against Violence (PPWAV) Act enacted in Punjab Assembly in early 2016. Just in a span of the year 1600 women approached the centre and reported their cases. There will be two more VAWC until June 2018 one in Faisalabad and the other one will be in Lahore. Punjab government has established 15,000 Dar ul Aman, 6 centres for windows where they get training for a year and monthly stipend of 3500 rupees. There are fully functional old age homes in six districts and 36 districts have “Sanatzaar” institutions in which 28,000 youngsters get skill full training.”

Mumtaz Mughal, Resident Director of Aurat Foundation, said, “Only a fewer people know that 10,000 women die due to violence every year. Every institution is working whether it is social welfare, civil society or NGOs but still our woman is not empowered. She cannot lodge an FIR against her husband or brother. She cannot survive without having an identity of man as she has to use husband or father’s name as the suffix. We have to change the mindset of people and we have to do this at the grassroots level. I think training of the mother is very important for she has to teach her son the respect towards every woman and she has to make sure that her daughter is confident enough and can take up challenges on her own. This is very unfortunate that seat of women ombudsperson is vacant for last one year in Punjab. ”

Shazia Sarwar, AIG in Gender Crime Punjab Police said, “There were many loopholes in the database of violence against women. We have separated the categories of domestic violence and violence on women by other women. When we rechecked the data 22 percent cases of rape were false. People used women to take revenge on their enemies and this practice is very common in rural areas. This number is very alarming. As a society where are we heading? What ethics and moral values are we giving to our young generation? We have changed our systems and appointed female officers at front desks, so the women can easily share their complaints. A total of 42 percent of cases of violence are registered against husbands. And most of the time, women demand to just call her husband and make him realize his mistake. For, I have nowhere to go. We have to financially support the victim. This is very important. She cannot spend her whole life in a government’s centre. Men need to accept this reality that women are their honour and they have to respect her and acknowledge their equal status.” Lubna Mansoor, Director Human Rights Department said, “Women department and all the other institutions have to change their focus towards men. Women know their rights and power; we need to train our men so they can accept women as equal. We are making a taskforce for the prevention of violence on women. We will make sure that every representative of this society including MNAs, MPAs, civil society or district workers perform their duty towards women empowerment.”

Kishwer Awan, National Commission on Human Rights said, “This organisation is just two years old and we are spreading our network. The main thing is that we have to do coordination with every department, which is working for women’s rights. Due to duplication of services, we are not getting desired results. The curriculum of schools needs fresh material and our young generation has to explore the reality. We are now planning to open some centres for disable women so they can also be the part of our society.”