Women's Action Forum, activists protest outside Peshawar Press Club in support of Punjab's women protection act. The act was slammed by religious parties and clerics, who are pushing to water down the law.STOCK IMAGE
According to data compiled by the provincial police department, at least 187 women were murdered in the first 10 months of last year, slightly higher than 185 reported during the corresponding period the previous year.
A breakdown of murder cases showed that 40 women were killed in honour-related crimes, while 140 women were raped, including a single gang rape. Similarly, 104 women were subjected to physical harassment at workplace in the same period last year.
At least 24 women were beaten up and as many as 85 others faced other forms of domestic violence.
Data also showed that the total number of cases registered with the police was 583.
However, a study conducted by a local NGO called ‘The Awakening’, which works on women rights issues, contradicted police department’s data.
According to its findings, as many as 50 women were killed in Swat district alone in the name of honour, Swara and domestic violence.
Erfan Hussain Babak, the Swat-based NGO’s executive director, said that the number of honour killings in Swat was more than 34, while 25 cases of suicides, Swara-related violence and rapes were recorded last year.
Rejecting police figures, he said that cases in just Swat were far higher than what was officially reported under the head of honour killings across the province.
Criticising the administration, he said that pro-women laws, including the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2010 (Sexual Harassment), the Acid Control and Acid Crime Prevention Act, 2010, were not being enforced in the Malakand division.
Official figures, he said, showed most cases of honour killings and domestic violence as suicides. “The actual number of murders is far higher than reported by the police.”
Interestingly, official data showed that no such cases occurred anywhere in southern districts of K-P .
Taimor Kamal, another human rights activist, said: “We have not seen any (such) case registered in southern districts of K-P like Tank, Dera Ismail Khan and adjacent areas. The reason is that people do not register FIRs in cases deemed to be against the family honour.”
Published in The Express Tribune, January 6th, 2017.
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