The Human Rights Ministry of Pakistan disclosed that the country has witnessed a drop in reported cases of violence against women. According to the statistics shared by the Ministry of Human rights, the reported cases of violence against women across Pakistan drop 70 percent in the last three years.
But the statistics shared by the Ministry of Human Rights and the data from provincial helplines for women saw a huge difference. As the data from provincial helplines for women disclosed a horrific state of women’s rights, especially in Sindh and Punjab. Moreover, officials working for women’s rights in northern Sindh and southern Punjab believe the place is the “hell” for women and their rights.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Human Rights Toll-Free Helpline data disclose Punjab has witnessed the most to the total complaints registered by women all over Pakistan, as the province contributes 73% of the total cases of violence against women in the country. Gilgit Baltistan is the only region where these cases are negligible. In this year, only two complaints by women were registered in GB. The maximum number of cases registered in the region was not even more than 10 in 2018.
Recently, Pakistan has witnessed a huge increase in the cases of violence, sexual assaults against women. According to the Thomson Reuters Foundation, Pakistan is the sixth most dangerous country in the world for women. The Karachi-based organization War Against Rape calculated that less than 3% of rape cases lead to sentences.
Pakistan witnessed a high rate of gender-based violence, which has been attributed to several factors, including lack of education, lack of awareness, poverty, and widespread misogyny in the country. However, the recent rise in crime against women shows the involvement of the state for its failure, or even a lack of desire, to protect women.
Additionally, cases related to the abuse of women in Islamabad in the last three years were more than those that occurred in all of Balochistan, AJK, and GB. In the present year, women’s rights abuse cases in the capital are even greater than in KPK. The data disclosed by the Ministry of Human Rights demonstrated that the total complaints made to the helpline (1099) by women in 2018 reached 6,238. Whereas, in 2020, around 1,718 complaints of violence against women surfaced, with only 1,655 in the first half of the current year 2021.
