Violence against women

Incidents of violence against women, including murder, honour killing, rape and acid attack, are on the rise in Pakistan. According to a study conducted by an NGO, 60% to 70% women suffer some form of abuse. An estimated 5,000 women are killed every year in domestic violence and thousands of others are either maimed or disabled. Given these conditions, Pakistan ranks as one of the most dangerous countries for women in the world. Experts attribute the evil to the society being male-dominated. Many women are murdered over property dispute and due to men’s extra-marital affairs.

Recently two young women were murdered in Punjab province: one allegedly by her husband after his wife refused to give her consent to his marrying another woman. The woman’s father told the police that his son-in-law killed her daughter. The man and wife developed differences over the issue of second wife. The couple were married for two years when the man killed his wife. In order to remove the obstacle to getting a second wife, the man stabbed his wife. The alleged murderer himself informed his wife’s family that unidentified intruders killed his wife in his home. Later police investigations revealed that the accused was the alleged killer. In a separate case, a man, with the help of hired criminals, murdered his sister and her husband in order to grab the sister’s property in Raiwind.

According to the Punjab Gender Parity Report 2016, incidents of violence against women have increased by 20% and 173 women were killed for honour in 2015. In 2013, over 5,800 cases of violence against women were reported in Punjab. These incidents represented 74% of the national total that year. In February 2016, the Punjab Assembly enacted a law that can effectively tackle all kinds of violence against women. Men born of woman should refrain from practising violence against women.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 24^th, 2020.

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