“Domestic violence is a pattern of patriarchal hegemony and in Pakistan, 70 to 90 percent of women experience some form of physical, emotional or psychological abuse from an intimate partner,” according to the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC). While these figures are astonishing, they are not surprising as women face disproportionately high levels of gender based violence in Pakistan. Of these, the majority of the cases fall in the province of Punjab which continues to see a rise in violence against women.
According to the Punjab Commission on the Status of Women’s (PCSW) Punjab Gender Parity Report 2019 and 2020, women in the province faced astronomically high instances of harassment, domestic violence, kidnapping, rape and sexual assault. As many as 8,797 cases were reported in 2020, while 8,767 cases were reported in 2019. Most of this violence was concentrated in the provincial capital, with 4,732 cases of rape being reported in Lahore in 2020. The city also recorded the largest number of domestic violence cases during the same period, with 345 cases being report, which was a decrease from the 1,158 cases reported in 2019. Similarly, sex crimes reported in Lahore stood at 614 cases out of a total of 4,056 in the province. Lahore also topped the list in the abduction of women, with 614 females being kidnapped in 2020. Meanwhile, the 8 acid attacks, the highest in Punjab, were reported from Faisalabad. The city also had the most honour killings, with 19 having occurred in 2020.
While there is some debate that these number may be misleading as reporting rape may be less in rural areas due to household pressure, lack of access to police officials and social stigmas. However, even at face value they paint a very dark picture of the state of women in Punjab and specifically in the provincial capital.
What are the root causes?
According to PCSW 38 per cent of women in Punjab face spousal abuse, and in the majority of these cases the abuse is physical and sexual. A World Bank (WB) study revealed that the reasons for these are the normative ideals surrounding women’s role in society. The WB found that in most cases women are seen as subservient to their male partners in most of rural Punjab, and some parts of urban Punjab as well. This has meant that the system of abuse has become a cultural norm.
However, this is not simply a male issue. The PCSW found that a part of what carries abuse forward is that women have internalised unsanctioned and unprovoked acts of violence against themselves as normal and expected patterns of behavior from men. A report by the commission found that as many as 60 per cent of women in rural Punjab felt that their spouse had the right to beat them for absolutely no reason if he saw it fit to do so.
Meanwhile, victims of abuse are very unlikely to report the crime due to the dishonour attached with it. Almost 64 per cent of women in Punjab feel that seeking help is out of the question as reporting their assault would bring a bad name to their household and family. Another 53 per cent said that they could not report the incident as they were sure that doing so would end their marriage or engagement. However, what is most astonishing is that 59 per cent of women firmly believed that the abuse faced by them was just not severe enough to report. With such a mentality persisting due to a severe lack of education, the cycle of abuse continues on with newer victims also hesitating to report crimes against themselves, which is quite apparent from the fact that during the same period these women made these claims as many as 58 per cent of women in the province reported psychological trauma while 67 per cent had incurred severe physical injuries, including broken bones.
Is there a system to help?
Ever since the 18th Amendment was passed, the provinces have been gained the ability to take steps towards increased women’s rights, gender equality, empowering women and increasingly protecting them against gender based violence. According to the UNODC, in Punjab, a number of key initiatives have been introduced in this regard, including the Punjab Protection of Women Against Violence Act of 2016, the Punjab Protection of Women against Harassment at the Workplace Act of 2012, the establishment of the PCSW in 2014, the Punjab Fair Representation of Women Act of 2014, the Punjab Protection of Women against Violence Act of 2015 and the Punjab Family Courts Act of 2015, among others.
However, as is self-evident from the staggering number of abuses occurring against women in these past two years, these initiative have had negligible effects. As previously stated this, according to experts, is because of the national culture. In a cultural hegemony that champions patriarchal narratives, women are discouraged from reporting due to the lack of education of many women in rural households and the economic dependence of women on their male relatives, including fathers, brothers and husbands.
Meanwhile, Covid-19 has added to the abuses faced by women as the men that are likely to abuse them are home more often than before due to lockdowns, working from home or being laid off from work. Of those who do seek help, little is available to them due to shelters being overwhelmed, understaffed and unable to provide the relevant care. Rozan, a women rights organisation that deals with women’s issues, particularly gender based violence, has revealed that, “state-owned Women Shelters (Dar ul Amaan) in Punjab are not prepared to take up new residents and have requested courts to refer as less women to them as possible due to their lack of financial, infrastructural and technical capacity to deal with asymptomatic Covid-19 positive survivors violence.”
Without real systemic change that is centred around educating the male population against abuse, educating females on reporting and seeking help, as well as the establishment of institutions that impart swift justice for victims this cycle of gender based violence against women is likely to continue at the same rate.
