As per United Nations Violence against women Chapter 6, around one-third of women worldwide have experienced physical and sexual violence by a partner or non-partner at some point in their lives. In majority of countries, less than 40% of the women who experienced violence sought help of any sort.
Unfortunately, Pakistan is among the top 10 countries insofar as the number of rape cases is concerned. The situation is even worse in India as it has become "rape capital of the world" where 327,000 crimes against women were registered in a single year.
According to Punjab Gender Parity Report 2017, incidents of torture on women have increased by 12.4% in 2016 as compared to 2015. In 2016, more than 7000 cases of violence against women were reported which were around 6500 in 2016.Out of these reported cases, highest cases were of rape, murder and beatings with 3162, 688 and 539 respectively.
A recent case of DI Khan, where 16-year-old girl was stripped and forced to walk through a village in the district as a punishment, left the entire nation in a state of shock. The incident took place on 27th October 2017 when the girl was on way back home carrying water for daily use. Up-till now, 7 suspects out of nine and 2 facilitators of the incident were arrested. However, no action had been taken against the SHO of the Chaudwan police station who allegedly supported the suspects.
In 2017, Pakistan's first most advanced, computerised and completely female-run Violence Against Women Center (VAWC) has been established in Multan. The aim of this center is to improve the country's justice system and offer services such as first aid, FIR lodging, police reporting, prosecution, medical exam and treatment, psychological evaluation and counseling as well as post-trauma rehabilitation.
This step is indeed a good effort of Punjab government. I request the Chief Minister of KPK to build the same centers in Peshawar, Mardan and Nowshera. Currently, the only mean to report violence against women is a toll-free helpline which support victims of human rights abuse. Unfortunately, due to a low literacy rate and lack of awareness in KPK, women may find it difficult to lodge complaints on phone.
Even after lodging complaints on phone, the victims of violence against women need to have continuous guidelines.
Furthermore, the current laws in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are not women friendly. In 2017, for example, more than 180 cases of domestic violence have been reported in the province; out of which, 94 are about women who were murdered by their relatives.
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