The cases of violence against women continue to rapidly rise in the country despite a series of steps taken by the federal government to check and curb this menace.
Such cases have been escalating, especially during the past three years, according to the data compiled by National Police Bureau which has also been shared with the Ministry of Human Rights. The data proves that most number of cases relating to violence against women have been reported in Punjab.
In 2018 alone, as many as 5,048 cases of violence including sexual violence and harassment cases at workplaces against women were reported from across Pakistan.
In 2019, a total of 4,751 cases were reported in the country while in 2020, a total of 4,267 cases of violence against women were reported. Meanwhile a total of 2,078 such cases were reported in 2021.
In 2018, a total of 3,281 rape cases were reported from Punjab. Sindh reported 230 cases, KPK reported 771 cases, Balochistan reported 11 as such cases, 25 cases were reported from ICT and IJK reported seven cases. A total of 289 gang raped cases were reported across Pakistan in 2018 out of which 194 were reported from Punjab, 65 from Sindh, 16 from KPK, Balochistan reported none, 13 from ICT and one from AJK.
Interestingly, there have also been a number of incest cases reported in 2018, all were reported from Punjab. A total of 15 cases of incest were reported from Pakistan in 2018, out of which all were reported from Punjab.
With regard to harassment cases at workplaces, 29 cases were reported from across Pakistan out of which, 26 were reported from Sindh alone while three were reported from KPK.
A total of 383 physical cases in terms of harassment at workplaces were reported in 2018 out of which 374 were reported from KKP alone.
There has been no psychological case reported at harassment across Pakistan in 2018.
A total of 4,751 total case of violence against women in 2019 out of which 3,883 cases of rape were reported from Punjab, 249 cases were reported from Sindh, 203 from KPK, 13 from Balochistan, 26 from ICT, two from GB and one from AJK.
A total 260 gang rape cases were reported across Pakistan in 2019, out of which 187 were reported from Punjab, 65 from Sindh, none from KPK, one from Balochistan, six from ICT and one from AJK.
A total of 18 cases of incest were reported from Pakistan in 2019 out of which all were reported from Punjab.
With regard to harassment at workplaces, 67 cases of physical were reported from Pakistan, 52 were reported from KPK, nine from Sindh, and six from GB.
Sexual cases at harassment at workplace witnessed a total of 28 cases, out of which 23 were reported from Sindh, four from KPK and one from GB.
No psychological case were reported at harassment at workplaces from anywhere from Pakistan during the mentioned period.
Out of a total 4,276 cases of violence against women reported in 2020, as many as 3,887 were rape cases. The breakdown of these show that as many as 3,314 cases of rape were reported from Punjab alone, 277 from Sindh, 233 from KPK, 21 from Balochistan, 40 from ICT, one each from GB and AJK in 2020.
Meanwhile, a total of 246 case of gang rape cases were reported in 2020 with 174 in Punjab alone, 63 reported in Sindh, one from KPK, none from Balochistan, six from ICT and two from AJK.
A total of 30 cases of incest from across Pakistan were reported in 2020 and, quite alarmingly, all of them were from Punjab.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Human Rights has launched a a Public Sector Development Project (PSDP) titled ‘Human Rights Awareness Programme’ which aims to create awareness among public, with special focus on rights of women and children.
The Ministry of Human Rights is also operating a toll free helpline, 1099, for legal advice on Human Rights Violations and referral of such cases for redressal.
The federal government recently promulgated Anti-rape (Investigation and Trial) Act 2021 besides promulgating the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2021 to effectively tackle the pervading instances of rape and sexual abuse against women and children.
Moreover, Field Units of Police are sensitised by the provincial/regional police offices to provide awareness regarding sexual harassment to general public.
Meanwhile, Director Advocacy, Aurat Foundation Rabeea Hadi told Bol News that there is a need to look at this data critically. She said more cases of violence against women are reported from Punjab because population wise, Punjab is almost half of Pakistan.
She said as far as reporting of incest cases from Punjab is concerned, there are a few districts such as Qasoor, Vehari and smaller cities in South Punjab where cases like these are being reported.
According to her, this has been a trend in Punjab that rape cases are being reported more during harvesting season. Moreover, she said there are also a number of deaths among women due to explosion of stoves.
Hadi said more such cases are reported from Punjab because media is quite vigilant in the province here and its accessibility over here is more than other places of the country.
She said cases like it are reported from Peshawar in KPK no as such case is reported outside Peshawar. She said it does not mean that there are no cases of this kind from other parts of KPK. She said there is village in Mardan District in which there are a lot of cases of acid burns.
She said during her research in 2008-9 she had learnt that there are highest cases of incest in Quetta.
“If a case is not reported then it does not mean that there are no case like it in a specific area. Most of the times cases like it are not reported from Balochistan,” she said.
She lauded the step of Islamabad Police for setting up gender protection unit. She said there is need to make improvement in system which is much flawed in this connection.
She said there is need to setup DNA Laboratory in every major city of Pakistan. She said there is only one existing laboratory in Lahore and even Islamabad does not have it.
Meanwhile renowned psychiatrist and well-known painter of Pakistan, Dr Syed Ali Wasif told this correspondent that sex is treated as a taboo over here.
He said if we can’t teach our children in this connection than its our own fault.
“Sex is just like sleep and appetite. It is a state of mind. We need to talk to our children and the teachers should also play their role in this connection,” he said.
According to Dr Wasif incest sex or sex within the immediate family members is another dilemma in the society. He said there is need to accept it that cases like it happen.
“Recently there have been some sex videos from religious seminaries which is surface of the sea. Girls and children are not even safe in the homes. There is need to address this issue and teachers and parents should teach sex education to children to make them aware as what needs to be done when they are trapped in a sensitive situation like this,” he said.
