Submitted by crinadmin on
Summary: According to Madadgaar database, based on
the reports published in twenty-six leading
dailies of the country in English, Urdu and
Sindhi languages, during the last five years as
many as 35,335 cases of violence against
women were reported, 8,560 alone in last
year.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
As we join the rest of the world to mark the International Women's Day,
we need to ask our selves how we can improve on the situation of women
in our country. The figures compiled by the country’s first helpline for
women and children, Madadgaar, did not paint a rosy picture. According to
Madadgaar database, based on the reports published in twenty-six
leading dailies of the country in English, Urdu and Sindhi languages, during
the last five years as many as 35,335 cases of violence against women
were reported, 8,560 alone in last year.
A closer look at these figures will show you that in the last five years 6519
women were murdered and 1492 of them alone during the last year; 3722
women were raped in the last half a decade, 728 of them in 2004; 6603
women were tortured or injured during this period and, 1601 of them in
2004.
Similarly 6505 women were abducted in these five years, 1397 alone in
2004. In 2004 1327 women committed suicide, while as many as 5542
women committed suicide during the last five years.
As the menace of Karo-Kari is considered, the Madadgaar, a joint project of
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHRLA) and Unicef, started collecting and
compiling data since 2001. These figures show that 4153 women fell prey
to the Karo-Kari in these four years, 1353 alone in 2004. Similarly, during
the last four years 1241 burnt cases and 483 police torture cases came to
the light.
During the last four years 215 women were trafficked, 67 of them in 2004.
As many as 352 corpses of females were found abandoned from the year
2002 to 2004, 103 alone in 2004. In total, the Madadgaar recorded 35,335
cases of violence against women in last five years, and 8,560 of them
alone in 2004. In most of the cases the perpetrators were known to the
victim, which include, close relatives. i.e. father, brother, husband.
However, due to many loopholes in the laws, many of the perpetrators
ecsaped punishment.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
The above figures themselves speak volumes about the grim situation of
women rights in the country, as only a tiny percentage of these cases used
to find place on the pages of print media, while the majority of them went
totally ignored, hidden and unreported. The government has done a
commendable job in order to secure positive response from all
stakeholders. It is the responsibility of the civil society, especially the
media, to come to the rescue of this oppressed class of our population.
Inadequate coverage of women’s perspective seems to be a worldwide
phenomenon.
It’s the grim reality that even a higher number of women in media has not
really fostered a healthy relationship between the women and media.
Policymakers also create unnecessary hurdles with their censorship
policies, restricting women from discussing pertinent issues such as rape,
sexual exploitation, family planning, impotence, STDs and other health
related topics.
It is of no use to only discuss the problems and not to suggest ways and
means for their redress. I would therefore like to float the following
suggestions on the occasion of the International Women’s Day:
• The government, civil society and media should play a positive
role for promoting gender justice. Negative attitude of the society
towards women reporters should be changed.
• In our country, since its mostly the male reporters who cover
crime, their training in gender sensitization and gender reporting
is imperative in order to ensure that crime against women is covered
in a way that does not demean the dignity of a women.
• Media should encourage women staff, particularly in reporting and
editorial sections, by adopting women-friendly policies.
• Law ministry should review the pending assignments of law
commission and take immediate action on those that are linked with
the protection and promotion of human rights in the country.
• Government should immediately repeal the Hudood Ordinance.
• A mechanism should be there for a strict implementation of UN/
International/ Regional Protocols and Conventions being ratified by
the country.
• The upper and lower judiciary should make efforts for early
disposal of cases related to violence against women.
• The Supreme Court of Pakistan under article 184(3) of the
Constitution of Pakistan should take up the issue of women
protection and monitor government’s action in this regard
• Provincial high courts should establish a monitoring cell to check
the cases of violence against women.
• A lady Ombudsman should be appointed to check the violence against
women and redress their problems with independent judicial powers.
Let, we, the social workers and you, the media persons work
together for the cause of the oppressed classes of the
society, especially the women and children.