Honour, domestic violence claims lives of 80 women in K-P over past six months

55 have been raped in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa since beginning of 2016

PESHAWAR: A vast majority of women have lost their lives in various cases of domestic violence and honour killing since the beginning of 2016. This trajectory of violence has surfaced at a time when the struggle to ensure protection to women is at its peak. Several bills have been presented by members of the K-P Assembly and the Provincial Commission on Status of Women (PCSW) remains at the forefront of the movement to safeguard women’s rights.



According to data available with The Express Tribune at least 80 women have been killed over the past six months. These include 68 women who fell victim to domestic violence while 11 died in cases of honour killing.

Tip of the iceberg

Social activists believe the number of women who have been raped and murdered is much higher than the data suggests. Rakhshanda Naz, a rights activist, told The Express Tribune this data is simply the tip of the iceberg. The actual number of women who have been raped and murdered is much higher. “It is the responsibility of the state to provide protection to every citizen,” he said. “Unfortunately, our government and the police have remained unsuccessful in providing justice to the public, especially women.”



District-wise

As per the data, 21 deaths were recorded in Mardan – which is the highest number of death. This was followed by Peshawar where 15 murders were reported. Around 55 rape cases were reported in the city, including two who were gunned down in the name of honour. According to data collected by the police, 185 women were murdered in 2015 and 127 rape cases were registered.

Serve and protect

At this critical juncture, neither the government nor the police could protect the women of K-P. More often than not, NGOs tend to stand up against such injustices. However, with time their interest is diverted towards other matters and they forget women who have fallen victim to such heinous crimes.

IGP Nasir Khan Durrani has pinned the blame on the criminal justice system. Speaking to The Express Tribune, he said the justice system is neither effective enough to provide speedy justice for victims nor strong enough to punish offenders. This, he said, has weakened the faith of the people in the justice system.

Question marks

There is limited statistical data on violence against women across the province. Similarly, there is no proper mechanism through which the government can collect figures on such forms of violence.

PCSW Chairperson Neelum Toru told The Express Tribune it is not the responsibility of the commission to collect the data. She added the commission’s responsibility is of a purely legislative nature. However, she did not explain how the commission would ascertain whether the frequency of violence against women has increased or decreased in the absence of statistical information.

Shagufta, a gender specialist, said her department is providing assistance to women in a diverse range of fields. However, data collection does not fall within the department’s domain.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 24^th, 2016.