Righting wrongs: Enforce laws to curb acid violence

Report says more reporting of incidents, passage of acid crime bill shed light on issue.

ISLAMABAD:

The eventual increase in responsible reporting of acid attacks in Pakistan depicts a positive trend of breaking away from taboos of the past, to lift the curtain from the reality of violence against women.

Moreover, with the passage of the acid crime bill in December 2011, law enforcement regarding acid violence has improved dramatically.

These corollaries are stated in the report ‘Fostering Effective Implementation of Pro-Human Rights Laws: Criminal Law Amendment Act 2011 (Act XXV), an Example of Good Practice’.

The report was launched on Thursday at a meeting organised by the Acid Survivors Foundation (ASF) Pakistan in collaboration with the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) and Australian Aid.

Statistics cited in the report indicate that reporting of acid crimes was raised from one per cent in 2012 to 71 per cent in 2013 due to ASF intervention.

It also states that many survivors still do not have access to adequate medical and rehabilitation services, with an overwhelming 65 per cent of victims in 2013 still seeking justice for the wrongs done to them.

Additionally, a forum consolidating national data on acid violence victims is much needed.

Thanks to the changes, the average conviction for the perpetrator of such a crime has gone up to 20 years, compared to 6 to 10 years before 2011.

Participants at the event underscored the importance of awareness campaigns in challenging discriminatory and patriarchal perspectives prevalent in our society, in a bid to improve law implementation.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 18^th, 2014.