We live in a society where domestic violence has unfortunately become a norm. It is tragic that not a single institute or platform in the country that can protect women from domestic violence. Only after much uproar on media and online platforms do the authorities spring into action.
The recent case of Syeda Zehra Naqvi, a woman who was beaten to death by her husband, is just one of the countless examples. The husband, who was a journalist by profession, was only convicted and charged after receiving attention on social media. Similarly, there are hundreds of thousands of women across the country who face the same plight but are not able to raise their voices. According to statistics, one in three married women in Pakistan are a victim of domestic violence while 90% of women in Pakistan face some form of physical, sexual, verbal, and emotional abuse at least once in their life. It couldn’t get more shameful for us the last year when Pakistan was ranked the 6th most dangerous country for women. The question arises as to what are we, as a society, doing to stop such evil acts from persisting?
The first step in solving a problem is acknowledging you have one. Therefore, we should talk about this matter openly so that women gather up the courage to speak up for themselves. It is necessary to initiate platforms that support and protect these women.
Khizran Zehra Baloch
Karachi
Published in The Express Tribune, July 22nd, 2020.
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