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Violence against women, particularly intimate partner violence and sexual violence, is a major public health problem and a violation of women's human rights in Pakistan. Violence against women in Pakistan is part of an issue that faces the entire region the country is situated in. Pakistan is a highly patriarchal society, and took a long time to enact laws for the protection of women. In the 2019 Women, Peace and Security Index, Pakistan ranked 164 out of 167 countries. Pakistan is worst among nine South Asian countries on access to mobile phones, financial inclusion, and discriminatory norms for women. Around 12.2 million girls, compared with 10.6 million boys, remain out of school in Pakistan, poverty compounding challenges to girls' educational opportunities. The only positive to take from the Index was Pakistan's achievement of 20 per cent representation for women in parliament and a slightly better indicator than India on bias towards sons. In 2017 there were an estimated 746 honour crimes, 24 stove burnings, 18 cases of settlement marriages. Many cases go unreported, and many of these reported cases go unprosecuted. Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) system in 2017 has been hailed as a success in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Legal experts are critical of the system, noting that ADR can delay action. Many remain concerned with patriarchal influence in a decision-making process that has traditionally disadvantaged women. In 2019, the Ombudsman for Sindh province informed the Supreme Court that out of 350 cases, action was taken in just eight cases. The largest province, Punjab, has received 116 complaints since the establishment of the office in 2013, resulted in 42 convictions, 15 acquittals, 27 withdrawals, and 24 still ongoing cases. It also reviewed 13 appeals. Four decisions were set aside, five decisions upheld, two cases were declared time-barred, while two remain ongoing. Women in Pakistan mainly encounter violence by being forced into marriage, through workplace sexual harassment, domestic violence and by honour killings.
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The Kashmir Conflict has been characterized by large scale usage of sexual violence by multiple belligerents since its inception.
Women's rights in Jammu and Kashmir is a major issue. Many small organisations have been formed to struggle for women's rights in Jammu and Kashmir. The 1947 accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India has led to conflict affecting the region's women. Kashmiri women, members of a patriarchal society, have had to fight inequality and discrimination. Various scholars along with many human rights organisations state that since the onset of the insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir in 1988, rape has been leveraged as a 'weapon of war' by the Indian security forces comprising the Indian Army, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Border Security personnel. The frequent cases of rape against Kashmiri Muslim women by Indian state security forces regularly goes unpunished. they have also been victims of violence by the militants.
References
- 1 2 3 4 Carline Bennett (23 December 2003). "21 Leaders for the 21st Century". We News. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
- ↑ Zofeen T. Ebrahim (16 February 2009). "Maria Shah — another acid attack file closed?" . Retrieved 2 August 2012.
- 1 2 Richard H. Curtiss (August–September 1996). "Shahnaz Bukhari—A Single-Minded Activist for Women's Rights". Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
- ↑ "Shahnaz Bukhari". Conference on World Affairs: University of Colorado-Boulder. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
- ↑ Nicholas D. Kristof (30 October 2008). "Terrorism that's personal". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
- ↑ Shahnaz Bukhari (15 October 2003). "Shahnaz Bukhari Civil Courage Prize Address". Civil Courage Prize. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
- ↑ "Civil Courage Prize". civilcourageprize.org. 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2011.
- ↑ "David Patrick Columbia's New York Social Diary". newyorksocialdiary.com. 29 October 2003. Retrieved 2 August 2012.