- 776 women murdered, 183 killed for honour in 2015
The situation of violence against women prevailed during the year 2015 in the largest province of the country—Punjab, where at least 5827 incidents were reported in which 6234 women became victim of violence.
This was revealed in the data collected during year 2015 by Aurat Foundation, an organisation working for women rights in the country. However, there was a slight decrease in such incidents of violence against women as compared to the year 2014 when 7548 cases of violence against women were reported.
These incidents of violence were reported in rural and urban settings within all classes, castes and religious groups, and they do not seem to follow any proportional or non-proportional relationships to the degree of modernity, level of literacy, accessibility to basic civil amenities, influence of media, role of religion and binding of the conventional morality.
According to the data available with Pakistan Today, the abduction-related incident were on the rise during the year 201, when as many as 1619 cases were reported in which 1754 women were victimised and only 1517 cases were reported, while 82 incidents were reported of attempt to kidnapping by 83 women.
During the previous year, 776 women were murdered in 724 incidents and 699 cases were registered while 196 women survived attempts to murder in 178 incidents. Similarly, 183 women were killed in 170 incidents in the name of ‘honour’ while 169 cases of honour crimes were registered with the police.
Rape cases also remained on the rise in Punjab where 1105 women became victims in 1070 incidents while in 251 cases of attempts to rape were reported, in which 257 women survived. However, this number was as higher as 1448 in the year 2014.
Similarly, during last year, 524 women committed suicide in 518 incidents while 396 survived in 392 cases.
Data shows that at least 200 women in 180 cases were tortured and received injuries inside home by their family member while on account of societal violence, 318 incidents reported in which 410 women were tortured and received injuries outside their homes.
On account of Vanni and Karo Kari, 21 cases were reported in which 25 women were victimised in last year. During last year, 29 women became victim in 24 cases of trafficking while 19 women were detained in illegal custody in 15 cases.
Acid throwing incidents were also remained high as 55 women become victims in 47 incidents while 35 were burnt in other ways.
According to reported figures, 2924 women were unmarried, 2346 married, 79 divorced, 98 widows while the marital status of 787 women could not be identified.
Sources said that the data was collected from different national and local newspapers across the country while the actual number of incidents and victims was far higher than then incidents reported in media.
Spokesman of Aurat Foundation told Pakistan Today that prior to drawing a substantial analysis on the situation; we need to look at the cultural, societal and religious framework that Punjab operates on and how this particular structure allows the moral fabric of society to be innately flawed. “Age old stereotypes, passed down from generation to generation have created a severely distorted moral code whereby the morality of the society is to be practiced at the expense of women only, while the male strata of the society is given a free pass on the grounds of being a ‘man’. These inherited beliefs transform into misogyny which in turn creates an inherently hostile environment for women” he said.
Abid added that the fear of public scrutiny, stereotypes and societal stigma that lead to the perception of bringing shame onto a woman or girl’s family are some of the factors that lead to underreporting of rape and gang rape cases in Pakistan. “The victim is often very reluctant to approach police stations, which serve as their first point of contact with the authorities” he said.
Abid further said that violence against women, a recurrent theme in the Pakistani society, continues to obstruct societal improvement and the blatant disregard to address this issue provides a tacit approval of the atrocious acts committed against women on a regular basis. Violence against women is not a new phenomenon in Pakistan.
“While it is acknowledged as an abominable crime that targets the ‘weaker’ sex in our society and needs to be eradicated, there seems to be no improvement in the situation. Instead of a decrease, there has been a constant increase in the amount of cases on and off the record.” he said.