At least 1,100 women are languishing in jails across the country because their families are not pursuing their cases due to social stigma, reported the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). The commission reported that according to the figures gathered in 2012 there were about 75,000 prisoners cross the country and among them 1,100 were women. The situation was further worse for about three dozen women who had been awarded capital punishment. Jails lack female medical practitioners for female inmates, said an HRCP official. Referring to the lock-up in Jail Road Women Police Centre, the official said the lock-up had only four feet high wall. “These factors violate privacy of women detainees,” the official said, adding that in several instances women were kept in the lock-up much beyond the stipulated time. “And there were no separate juvenile cells for young girls”.
The report further notes that there were at least 41 women who were subjected to acid attack in 2012 – resultantly, 15 women’s limbs were amputated. The report maintains that these acid attacks mainly took place on account of “suspicion of immorality”. The report further notes that 37 women were shaved in order to humiliate them and 49 were set on fire in various incidents across the country in the reporting period. In most instances, the perpetrators were relatives of the victim women.
Separately, Aurat Foundation notes that incidents of domestic violence increased by 7 percent from the previous year. At least 4,585 incidents of domestic violence took place only from January 2012 to June 2012.
The HRCP official recommended that there was a need of women friendly legislation in the country. The official also demanded that the country should stipulate a legislation to end forced conversion of women. He suggested that women’s socio-economic status could be ensured by safeguarding their rights at workplace and by providing them better job opportunities. He further stressed that representation of women was needed to be improved in the judicial and law enforcement agencies.
