Sharp rise in violence against women

Gang rapes, 'honour killing', 'stove burns' reported

ISLAMABAD:

A sharp increase in incidents of violence against women has been witnessed, particularly sexual assault, across the country during the last three years.

Data seen by The Express Tribune pointed to an alarming surge in the violence against women. Over 63,367 cases of gender-based crimes were reported, 3,987 women were killed and more than 10,500 women became victims of sexual violence.

In the year 2019 alone, 25,389 incidents against women were reported, while in 2020, 23,789 cases of abuse and other crimes, including rape, came to the fore. Similarly, in 2021, 14,189 cases were registered.

According to the statistics, over 3,987 women were murdered across the country from 2019 to 2021, while 10 thousand 517 cases of rape against women were registered.

During the same period, 643 cases of gang rape of women took place and 5,171 cases of torture against women were registered. Besides, 1025 women were killed in the name of “honour” while 103 cases of acid attacks took place.

There were 38 cases of burns due to the “explosion of stoves” were recorded and 41,513 women were abducted.

It is pertinent to note that the 'stove deaths' are often borne of a long history of domestic abuse and violence and are later portrayed as incidents of "self-immolation".

Burn injuries are passed off as “stove burns” or “accidents” at the hospital. What ends up happening is that the “accident” is taken at face value and not investigated more thoroughly.

More disturbingly, rights activists have emphasised that burn injuries that are identified as suicide attempts can also be a cover-up for attempted murder by the survivor’s in-laws and the women often themselves choose to shift responsibility for the heinous crime onto themselves.

'Honour killing'

The documents also showed that in 2019, 1578 women were killed, 4377 were raped, 391 were killed in the name of “honour”, 13916 were kidnapped and 260 were subjected to gang rape.

Similarly, in 2020, 1569 women were killed and 3887 subjected to sexual assault.

Around 397 women were killed in the name of “honour”, 246 were gang-raped and 12809 were kidnapped.

The data further revealed that during the last year, 840 women were killed, 2253 were raped, 257 women fell prey to notorious “honour killing” and 137 gang rapes were reported.

Similarly, 7651 women were abducted, while 1134 incidents of torture against women were reported.