National shame

Incidents of rape and sexual abuse are becoming increasingly common in Pakistan. A hideous incident took place in September 2020, in which a woman was gang raped in front of her two children in the outskirts of Lahore. The incident sparked national outrage but before the arrest of the two culprits, some appeared to be blaming the poor victim, asking why she was traveling alone at night without a male companion.

Sadly, in our country, victim blaming often accompanies cases of sexual assault. Recently, a foreign vlogger was sexually assaulted in Dera Ghazi Khan; a damning indictment of our government’s efforts to eliminate such incidents. The state needs to implement strict countermeasures if they really wish to make Pakistan a safe country for women.

Saman Rafiq

Islamabad