Sharafat A. Chaudhry, Rabia Mustafa
In recent years, several incidents of gender-based violence occurred in Pakistan that captured the limelight of the social and electronic media. These incidents are scars on the face of Pakistani society and the international community are also looking at that face with disgust and pity. Various reports of gender-based violence, sexual abuse, child abuse, child marriage, domestic violence, harassment, rape, honor killing, acid attacks, and gang rape are conducted by UN Organizations, TV channels, newspapers, NGOs, or the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. All these reports, though there is dissimilarities in numbers, indicate the rise in such crimes day by day.
The Express Tribune reports that over the past three years, there has been a dramatic rise in occurrences of violence against women nationwide, notably sexual assault. 25,389 acts against women were reported in 2019 alone, and 23,789 cases of abuse and other crimes—including rape—came to light in 2020. Similar to that, 14,189 cases were reported in 2021. Statistics show that from 2019 to 2021, more than 3,987 women were killed nationwide, and 10,517 cases of rape against women were reported. In the same time frame, there were 643 occurrences of gang rape against women and 5,171 cases of torture against women. In addition, 1025 women were murdered in the name of “honor”, and 103 acid attacks happened.
Similarly, the annual report of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan namely “State of Human Rights in 2021” indicated that in 2021, there were 5,279 rapes (including gang rape) and 478 honor killings registered in the country. Between January and June, at least 1,896 incidences of child abuse were reported across the nation; however, the actual number is probably higher. 1,084 of these involved sexual abuses, 523 involved kidnappings, 238 involved missing children, and 51 involved child marriage. Even the foreigners are not safe in this country. In July 2022, a foreign TikTok content creator, Arbela Arpi, was allegedly gang-raped at a local hotel during her visit to Dera Ghazi Khan’s Fort Munro tourist site. In August 2022, some foreign tourists were harassed by men in the capital city of Pakistan.
The SAMAA TV’s Investigation Unit (SIU) TV conducted a survey in 2022 and found out that a woman is raped in Pakistan every two hours whereas the conviction rate is only 0.2%. The report points out that this data is just the tip of the iceberg because in reality women do not report such incidents due to stigma and the fear of retributive violence. The sad part of this situation is that the conviction rate in such cases is very low. The special focus of SAMAA TV’s survey was on the trial of such cases and the conviction rate. Up to 1,301 cases of sexual assault against women were heard in 44 Pakistani courts in 2022. The police filed charge sheets in 2,856 cases. However, according to the research, only 4% of the cases proceeded to trial. The research noted that during this time, the conviction rate for rape cases remained at an appalling 0.2%.Pakistan was ranked first among the 75 nations having a bias against women in the courts by the United Nations Development Programme in 2020. Pakistan was ranked 145th out of 146 countries in a World Economic Forum report published in July of 2022, making it the second-worst nation in terms of gender parity. Afghanistan was the only country that performed worse than Pakistan. Pakistan (145th) has a population of 107 million women, and in 2022 has closed 56.4 percent of the gender gap that affects them.
A big question arises as to why this is happening in Pakistan so frequently. What are the main reasons or causes of violence against women? Some experts suggest that there are three main reasons of rape in Pakistan: sexual frustration, lack of education, and the poor implementation of the law. A study indicates that ‘the gender-based violence and discrimination against women result from patriarchal structures and forces intensely rooted in the male-dominated cultural and institutional behavior and socialization’. The study further finds out that the fundamental causes and motivations of kidnapping and abducting women and girls are sexual exploitation, demanding ransom, exacting vengeance on the family and society, reclaiming the family/tribal honor, and controlling the free will marriage of the women. The lack of conviction rate again gives the offenders an edge to go for such crimes.
So, the research says that this is due to the lack of education and a patriarchal setup. If this is so, why Noor Mukadam, the 27-year-old daughter of the former ambassador, was found murdered with a sharp-edged weapon and beheaded? The murderer was an educated person. The issue of education and patriarchy wasn’t there. The same was the case of Shahnawaz Amir who brutally murdered his wife Sara Inam with a dumbbell. Some people believe that it is due to worldly pursuits and staying away from religion. If this is a true scenario, why the cases of child abuse and child torture are frequent in madrassas?
In June 2021, the prime minister of Pakistan faced a torrent of criticism for remarking during an interview that the rise in sexual violence against women in Pakistan was linked to their attire. If this is the case, what clothing do the children wear in the madrassas? More importantly, it is said that early and timely marriage can stop such crimes. Could it stop domestic violence and the mental and physical (reproductive) health of girls? There is no such data that indicates that early marriage has stopped sexual crimes in Pakistan. The research indicates that in Pakistan, age, dress, caste, religion, class, and area do not matter when it comes to sexual crimes or GBV. The ages of Diya Bheel and Zainab didn’t matter to the culprits. The religion of Sara Inam and Diya Bheel was not an issue for barbarians. The class structure of Noor Mukadam and Mukhtaran Mai couldn’t stop the offenders. Beasts from Sinjhoro area or Islamabad area were the same while involving in such brutal crimes. Again, a question arises, who is spared here? Women? Girls? Children? Foreigners? Middle-aged? Hindu? Muslims? Educated? Uneducated? The answer is apparent and crystal-clear. NO ONE.
The worst situation is that the type and nature of crimes are so heinous that one wonders how a person can be a human and then do such a thing. Murdering Diya Bheel wasn’t enough? Why such brutality? Why behead Noor Mukadam when already killed her? Why use a dumbbell repeatedly to kill Sara Inam? Why force a young couple to strip naked in a room full of other men? Why gang-rape a woman in front of her three kids after dragging her out of her car? The list is long.
If we talk about legislation that protects women, this list is also long. In the last two decades, there are numerous laws that protect and safeguard women regarding GBV, sexual abuse, child abuse, child marriage, domestic violence, harassment, rape, honor killing, acid attacks, gang rape, cybercrimes, and so on. When we talk about legislation related to gender-based violence, the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 2021 and the Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Act, 2021 may not go unnoticed. This special legislation provides for a special sexual investigation unit. It also requires the establishment of special courts and a special procedure for investigation and trial by protecting the identity and honor of the survivor. The law requires to make a register of sexual offenders for future consumption so that a person who is offender in sexual offences may be tracked and if he repeats the offence, he may be punished severely as per his previous character. For the enforcement of this legislation, the law also proposed a special committee of that would work pro-bono. The notified committee is comprised of legal, social, and medical experts to monitor the enforcement of this legislation as well to provide advice to the federal government.
In general, the suggestion is to create a democratic, socially progressive, and just society. Within the framework of public policy and development programs, gender-based violence must be tackled as a top priority. It should be done as a top priority because 107 million women are the strength of the country whereas violence against women undermines efforts to promote social justice and democratic society. Women in society are subjected to discrimination, which represses their rights and hinders their participation in the establishment of institutions for the state and society. The government’s efforts regarding legislation in favor of women are so promising but the main concern must be the implementation of these laws with an iron hand. The enforcement of the said legislation is the key question in our country. Government must seriously tackle this grave issue so that our community is socially progressive and that women’s social, political, and legal empowerment is a top objective and goal.
Sharafat A. Chaudhry is a human rights lawyer and the founding Chairperson of the School for Law and Development.
Rabia Mustafa is a Senior Research Fellow at the School for Law and Development.