VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN PAKISTAN 2009A QUALITATIVE REVIEW OF STATISTICS BY AURAT FOUNDATION WITH THE SUPPORT OF TROCAIRE (INGO)

By Dr.Rakhshinda PerveenFounder /CEOcreative anger by rakhshiwww.creativeangerbyrakhshi.com

The evening of the city of friends by Faiz-sham-e-shihr-e-yaranIf my suffering found a tongue

Mere dard ko jo zuban mile

My suffering is a song unsung my soul a speck without a seal If my suffering found a tongue My name and sign it would

reveal. If of my soul I found the sign I would perceive the worlds

design, If this secret were in m y reach My silence would acquire speech, Sway over all created things And the empire of both worlds be

mine.

Mira dard hai naghma-e-be-sada

Miri zaat zarra be-nishan Mire dard ko jo zuban

mile]mire zaat ka jo nishan mile]mujhay raze-nazm-e-jahan mile

Miri khamoshi ko bayan mile Mujhe kainaat ki sarvari Mujhay daulat-e-do jahan

mile

It gives us(Aurat foundation) no pleasure to present this qualitative review of statistics for Violence Against Women in Pakistan during 2009. The reported statistics are nothing but a true copy, only larger in size, of the earlier two reports in this series, prepared under our national programme of “Policy and Data Monitor on VAW”. Special thanks to friends,colleagues ,activists in the government and civil society a very special thanks to Naeem Mirza, Rabea Hadi and staff members from provincial offices of Aurat foundation

This national study is a compilation of the four regional reports put together by our four provincial offices. All five offices of the Aurat Foundation collected the statistics on VAW in Pakistan during the 2009 calendar year from January to December. Not only all the four provinces – Punjab, Sindh, Khyber-Pakhtunkhawa and Balochistan– were covered but data was collected for Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) as well.

Structure & format

Beginning- context Body- facts & figures End- conclusions? Challenges? Way

forward

2009 has been another tragic year for women rights in Pakistan.

Many cases have been reported, in which women were abducted, assaulted, raped, murdered, forced to marriage or traded to resolve disputes.a total of

8,548 incidents of violence against women were reported.

Life is a stage and we all are actorsAnd Men are Perpetrators-in their role-always? Frequently? Regularly?

Reported cases= tip of the iceberg

Reality is still veiled in the name of honour,cultuure,religion,laws or absence of laws…………………………

Speaking numbers? –Silent numbers?

Pakistan ANNUAL REPORTED CASES

Punjab Sindh Baluchistan Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa

(KP) Islamabad Capital Territory(ICT)

5722 cases 1762 cases only 237 cases

surfaced only 655 cases were

reported 172

Violence against women during or after armed conflicts

KP & Balochistan Khyber Pakhtunkhawa

Both these provinces have a tradition of forced marriages, ‘honour’ killing and a high cultural premium placed on securing vendettas. The tradition of exchange marriages in Balochistan and bridal selling in KP are well known.

Over and above this context, Khyber Pakhtunkhawa saw the biggest internal migration in the history of Pakistan in May 2009

when some 2.5 million people were forced to flee for their life from Swat, Dir . and Buner when a military operation against extremists got under way.

,these Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) lived in camps and host communities for nearly three months.

Hence the observation that VAW remains grossly under reported in Pakistan.

Data shows “murder” and “'honour' killing” of women to be the most prevalent form of VAW in Pakistan. •Abductions and kidnappings of women are also rampant.

Rape and gang-rape has also registered an upward trend. •Domestic violence remains a serious and widespread problem. Only 50 cases of stove burning forming 0.58% of the total reported cases in 2009 indicate a reduction of 18% percent of the preceding year.

However, acid throwing has increased substantially

Na savale vasl na arzay gham na hikaiitain na shikaitainTirey ehad mein dile zar k sabhi ikhtiaar chalay gaiyee

Categories/forms of VAW

YEAR 2008 YEAR 2009 ABDUCTION-1784 MURDER-1422 DOMESTIC VIOLENCE-281 SUICIDE-599 “HONOUR” KILLING-475 RAPE/GANG RAPE.778 SEXUALASSAULT-172 ACID THROWING-29 BURNING/STOVE.61 MSC-1,970 NET=7,571

ABDUCTION-1987 MURDER-1384 DOMESTIC VIOLENCE-608 SUICIDE-683 “HONOUR” KILLING-604 RAPE/GANG RAPE-928 SEXUALASSAULT-274 ACID THROWING-53 BURNING/STOVE-50 MSC-1977 NET=8548

TOP 15 DISTRICTS-VAW

DISTRICTDISTRICT

1. LAHORE2. FAISALABAD3. SARGODHA4. RAWALPINDI5. PESHAWAR6. GUJRANWALA7. SHEIKHIPURA8. SUKKUR9. MULTAN

10.KASUR11.JACOBABAD12.LARKANA13.ISLAMABAD14.VEHARI15.TOBATEKSINGH

Breakdown of VAW casesPunjab Sindh

1698= abduction 1220=msc 786=rape…. 752=murder 448=suicide 271=Domestic violence(DV) 245= ghairat/honour killings 227=sexual assault 42=acid throwing 33=stove burning

535=msc 228=murder 284= ghairat/honour

killings 176=suicide 160= = abduction 134=DV 122=rape 44=227=sexual assault 10=stove burning 09=acid throwing

Breakdown of VAW cases

Baluchistan KP

88=msc. 59= = ghairat/honour

killings 39=murder 22=dv 13=abduction 10=suicide 04=rape 01=sexual assault 01=stove burning

266=Murder 163=dv 93=msc 43=suicide 07=rape 04=stove burning 01=acid throwing

CAUSES

??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Silence on violence

Policy inaction Under reporting Elite consensus

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Age wise distribution

In the total number of 8,548 cases of VAW were recorded from all over Pakistan, the number of victims or survivors was reported to be 9,743 in 2009. However, there was no information available about the age of some 6,336 victims in the reported cases of VAW. An analysis of the data available showed that of these, 1,663 women victims fell in the age group up t1,123 women were in the between 19 to 36 o 18 years. Another years age group. The remaining 621 women were all 37 years or above in age.

FIR Status of cases of VAW According to compiled data,

FIRs were registered only in 113 cases reported by the media. No FIRs were registered against 63 reported cases and as many as 61 cases had no on their FIR status during 2009.

The case of Baluchistan

FIR Status of cases of VAW Although some 8548 cases of VAW were reported

from all over Pakistan, yet only 5996 cases were formally registered with the police. Formal registration entails a “First Information Report” or FIR that forms the basis for prosecution. This number has been computed based upon media reports excluding cases where registration of FIR was not reported. These reports or ‘crime stories’ appearing in the newspapers informed that 1154 cases out of the total 8548 were not registered with the police.

No evidence was found in media coverage on the FIR status of the remaining 1398 cases.

Marital Status of Victims/Survivors

The 8548 cases reported from all over Pakistan recorded crimes against 9743 victims. There was no information given on the marital status of 1471 victims of reported VAW crimes in Pakistan during 2009.

Excluding these, 4,215 victim women were married and 3,868 were unmarried. Some 145 women were widows while 44 were divorcees

Change is the way forward victim survivor

For Women and girls violence must not be a norm

Strive for a society where VAW/Girls is not endemicNot socially and morally endorsedAnd ignored legally

Way forward

Dreams are not negotiable(Paulo Coehlo)

Dream of a society where people (women and men) are recognized because of their strengths and not because of their power, physical attributes or class.

Alas! It`s not an ideal world but there is no harm & loss in striving for a society characterized by gender harmony.