Gender-based violence remains rampant

According to research conducted by the Sustainable Social Development Organization (SSDO) and the Centre for Research, Development and Communication (CRDC), cases of kidnapping of women, rape and sexual abuse of children were the most frequently occurring cases of violence against women and children that took place in the month of September.

SSDO and CRDC said their research was based on data obtained from the police. The two organisations said that the data was collected by submitting a “Right to Information” request to the provincial police departments across the country.

Responses were received from all the provinces, except the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Furthermore, the SSDO also conducted a daily media tracking of 13 of the country’s most widely-read newspapers to gauge the attention devoted to such issues in the mainstream media.

A staggeringly high number of cases (844) of the kidnapping of women were registered with the Punjab Police in the month of September alone.

This statistic is incredibly alarming as it would mean that on average, 28 women were kidnapped every single day, meaning that at least one woman was kidnapped every single hour, said the report.

Additionally, 491 women were raped across the province of Punjab in the month of September according to the Punjab Police, meaning that over a hundred women were raped every single week, with an average of 16 women raped daily.

On the other hand, according to media tracking, only 43 of such cases were reported in Punjab, SSDO report said.

Therefore, over 91% of cases of sexual violence went unreported in the media, which can lead to a false sense of security, said the report.

Hundred-and-five cases of murder of women were lodged with the police throughout the province whereas only six cases were reported in the media.

As per the indicators discussed earlier, the media reporting is “incredibly minuscule” in comparison to the actual number of cases happening.