VAW: flawed approach

The government and civil society need to take a long and harsh look at their policies to address violence issues

A new report on violence against women shows a worrying increase in reported cases, including significant spikes in urban areas. Over 10,200 cases were reported in Punjab alone in 2023, a 16% increase over the previous year. Those numbers are even more upsetting given that many cases of violence against women go unreported. Faisalabad had the ignominious distinction of being the rape capital of Pakistan, with 728 cases in 2023. For comparison, Lahore, which has about five times the population of Faisalabad, was in second place in Punjab with 721 cases. But Lahore was still by far the worst city in terms of kidnappings, with 136 reported cases. Meanwhile, there were at least 120 reported incidents of honour killings in the province, or about two every week. The Sustainable Social Development Organisation’s report also included some haunting numbers for Sindh, which averaged 13 honour killings a month and four rape cases per week in 2023. However, workplace harassment reports were down — one of the few pieces of ‘good’ news in the report.

While no one would be surprised to learn that violence against women remains a deeply ingrained social problem, the fact that cases are increasing at such a high rate is a genuine concern. Optimists would say it may simply be a matter of higher reporting because women are more aware of their rights, but awareness levels have been high for several years, and by now, we should be reaping the dividend through cases reducing, not increasing and intensifying. The government and civil society need to take a long and harsh look at their policies to determine why years of efforts to address violence against women have been so utterly counterproductive. It is not just a matter of lack of legislative failure, law enforcement’s apathy, or backward cultural practices, but a confluence of all these and other factors. If we are to address the problem, it has to be head-on, without worrying about our ‘international image’ or offending the sensibilities of those who endorse the boorish attitudes that lead to such incidents.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 12^th, 2024.

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