‘Rape with widespread impunity still continuing’

Speakers at a seminar on Monday stressed the need for a robust response mechanism to end sexual and other forms of gender-based violence in Sindh.

The seminar, titled ‘Generation Equality Stands Against Rape – Prevention, Response, and Rehabilitation’, was organised by the UN Women Pakistan in collaboration with the Women Development Department (WDD) and the Sindh Commission on the Status of Women (SCSW).

The event marked the inauguration of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (GBV), which is a global campaign that takes place each year from November 25, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, to December 10, Human Rights Day.

The 16-day campaign is used as an organising strategy by individuals and organisations around the world to call for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls.

Speaking on the occasion, provincial minister for women development Syeda Shehla Raza said work on preventing and ending violence against women at the global, regional and national levels showed that there was widespread impunity on sexual violence and rape. “This topic is usually considered a taboo and not debated among people. This year, it is stressed to break the silence and talk against rape,” she said.

She said that with the support of the UN Women, the women development department had revised the Gender Equality and Women Empowerment (GEWE) Policy, which would be launched soon. SCSW Chairperson Nuzhat Shirin said rape is a non-negotiable crime. “It cannot be forgiven nor forgotten, which leaves lifelong scars on the victim. Rape is the most heinous crime and remains unreported by victims due to stigma attached to it, which in return does not punish the perpetrators. That’s why, the number is increasing day by day, especially rape with the children,” she said.

Shirin said the SCSW received many complaints about sexual violations of both girls and boys, and the commission also looked for such cases in newspapers. It was unfortunate that the confidentiality and privacy rights of survivors were not respected, she added.

The commission was working to protect women and girls from sexual exploitation and abuse, including rape, she added.

Dr Alia Shahid, secretary to the women development department, briefed the participants of the event on the background and history of 16 days of activism. She termed gender-based violence was a violation of human rights.

“The WDD [the women development department] has come up with a strong sexual violence response framework that would work to end violence, including rape, against girls and women,” she said.

The framework covered three main areas, i.e. prevention, response and rehabilitation, which were also the main topics of the event, she said. The panelists discussed the role that the government and non-governmental organisations could play for education and awareness of communities in order to prevent rape and other forms of violence against women and girls.

A discussion on the response mechanism focused on the existing response mechanism for rape victims and challenges faced by survivors. Panelists also discussed the role of the criminal justice system, police and medico-legal departments in addressing the issues of GBV victims and issues and challenges faced by them.

Dr Rana, a panelist in this session, said women victims wanted to appear before women judges and women prosecution, and that the proceedings of their case must be in closed-door sessions. “One women’s police station is required in every 20 police stations in the province. It is an approved plan but still pending.”

The third panel discussion at the seminar was around rehabilitation. The rehab mechanism for rape survivors and how therapists/counsellors could help survivors to recover, and challenges faced by the service providers were discussed in the last panel discussion.

All the women machineries, including government departments, women MPAs, ministers, civil society organisations, academicians, students and representatives from NGOs, international NGOs and UN agencies attended the event.