Violence against women on the rise

The number of incidents of violence against women in the federal capital has increased manifold, as 72 cases were reported in the first six month of the current year compared to 127 cases reported during the previous year.
As many as 4,448 women across the country were subjected to violence from January to June this year, compared to the 4,061 reported during the same period last year. These revelations were made in a report released on Tuesday by Aurat Foundation on the biannual statistics of violence against women from January to June of the current year.
Titled “Incidents of violence against women in Pakistan reported during January to June 2011”, the report speaks of offences reported from all over the country and highlights the variance of statistics.
Out of a total of 4,448 incidents, Punjab tops the four provinces with a total number of 3,035; followed by Sindh with 819 cases; Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 389, Baluchistan with 133 and Islamabad with 72 cases. The figures for Islamabad are alarming, given the smaller population and high security maintained in the capital.
Of the total incidents, 1,137 women were abducted; 799 women were murdered and 382 were killed for “honour”; 396 women were raped; 402 women committed suicide; 22 women were made victims of acid attacks; 57 women sexually assaulted; 356 were subjected to domestic violence; 16 women were targets of stove burning and 881 cases were of other types of violence.
Of the total of 72 incidents in Islamabad mentioned in the report, there were 15 cases of murder, 13 of abduction or kidnapping, nine of domestic violence, three of rape or gang rape, three of sexual assault, three incidents of suicide, two of acid throwing, and 24 cases of miscellaneous offences against women were recorded.
The report has shown that a total number of 3,035 incidents of violence against women occurred in 35 districts of Punjab between January to June 2011. Of these, 405 were cases of murder, 148 cases of ‘honour’ killing, 986 cases of abduction or kidnapping, 181 cases of domestic violence, 271 cases of suicide, 343 cases of rape or gang rape, 25 cases of sexual assault, 16 cases of stove burning, 17 cases of acid throwing and 643 cases of other violence.
In Sindh, 819 incidents of violence against women were recorded in 23 districts of Sindh. Of these, 155 were cases of ‘honour’ killing, 160 cases of murder, 101 of abduction or kidnapping, 76 incidents of suicide, 43 cases of rape and gang-rape; 85 cases of domestic violence, 29 of sexual assault; three of acid throwing; and 167 cases of other types of violence reported across the province. The category-wise breakdown of these cases is as follows:
A total number of 389 incidents of violence against women were reported in 23 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa(KP) during January- June, 2011. The number of incidents of murder were the highest in KP reaching 179 cases, followed by 81 domestic violence incidents. Around 14 cases of ‘honour’ killing, 28 incidents of abduction or kidnapping, 41 incidents of suicide, three cases of rape or gang rape, and 43 cases of other types of violence occurred in the first half of the year 2011. Of the total 133 incidents in Baluchistan, there were 64 cases of ‘honour’ killing; 40 cases of murder; four cases of rape or gang rape; nine cases of abduction or kidnapping; 11 incidents of suicide; and five cases were of other types of violence.