Violence against women:Lahore the most violent city for women

The Express Tribune

The year 2011 remained unfortunate for women in Pakistan as violence against them increased by 6.74 per cent compared to the year 2010, a report released by Aurat Foundation on Friday revealed. The report titled ‘Violence Against Women in Pakistan: A qualitative Review of Statistics 2011’ states that 8,539 cases of violence were reported against women in 2011 as compared to 8,000 cases in 2010. According to the statistics presented in the report, abduction was the most prevalent in 2011 with 2089 cases reported across the country. The incident of murders was the second most prevalent form of violence against women. As many as 1575 women were murdered during 2011. However, this does not include women killed on the pretext of family ‘honour. The report segregated murders and cases of honour killings under which it classified 705 cases throughout the country. Categories of crime Out of 8,539 case of violence against women in Pakistan, 2089 cases of kidnapping, 1575 or murder, 610 of domestic violence, 758 of suicide, 705 of honour killing, 827 of rape and gang rape, 110 of sexual assault, 44 of acid throwing, 29 of burning and 1792 under miscellaneous. The category miscellaneous includes cases of child marriages, trafficking, attempted rapes and other forms of violence. Territorial distribution of violence Along with a breakdown of the form of violence recorded, the report attempted to map the violence as well. According to the report, most cases of violence against women in all categories were reported from Punjab with 6188 cases. Sindh accounted for 1316 cases of violence, while Khyber-Pakhtunkhawa reported 694 cases, 193 cases in Balochistan and 148 cases in the Islamabad territory. The report attempted to explain the number of cases reported from Punjab show that reporting mechanism is better than that in other provinces and the fact that Punjab makes up more than 54 per cent of the entire population of the country. The report raised alarm that Sindh accounted for a disproportionately high number in honour Killings, with Karo Kari in Sindh. The report said that 37.73 per cent of all cases (266 out of 705) of honuor killing tabulated were from Sindh. On the other hand, a disproportionately high rate of murder of women, 21.65per cent (341 of 897)of the total were reported from KP. Lahore the most violent city for women The report states that the highest number of overall violence against women cases were reported from Lahore with 754 cases. Faisalabad came in second with 667, Rawalpindi 459, Sargodha 381 and Multan 365. Districts in the list with the most reports include Chakwal, Okara, Vehari, Peshawar, Khanewal, Sheikhupura, Muzaffargarh, Sahiwal, Lodhran and Rahim Yar Khan. Additional Secretary Law and Parliamentary Affairs Syed Mohsin Raza said legal system needed to be made remedial in Pakistan to lower these numbers. He said that even if those who did indulge in violence on women were punished, there wasn’t any way to get remedy for the victim. “Often women are beaten up by the husbands or family members and have to live in the same house with them. This is linked with financial independence. If women are empowered financially then violence against them will automatically drop. This is what Punjab government is working on and also given Women Empowerment Package 2012,” he added.