Asian Breeze

No.102 Online Newsletter

102No.

May2024KITAKYUSHU FORUM ON ASIAN WOMEN

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An Overview of Gender Based Violence in Pakistan-JAWARIA ARZOO KASHIF
Practicing Lawyer

Women in Pakistan are facing formidable challenges in their efforts to achieve gender
parity and are still addressing GBV(hereafter referred to as GBV) in their country, withparticular problems posed by elements among customary norms and practices e.g. exchange marriages, marriage with Holy Quran 1, Karo Kari 2, Vani 3, Sawara 4, Honor kill-1

It was an old tradition but still applied to some rural parts of our society that people use to announce that we havemarried our daughter/sister with the holy Quran, meaning thereby that if they do not want to give/transfer inheritedproperty to their daughter/sister at the time of her marriage then they announce the same and that girl could not marryfor all her life time.
In Pakistan, an act is taking place in certain provinces that deprives a Muslim woman of her social rights. This act isthe so-called marriage to the Quran, a practice that is widespread in the Sindh province in the south of the country.
In this type of marriage, young girls are asked to dedicate themselves to memorizing the Holy Quran. Their families
then hold a ceremony to marry the girl to the holy book. A girl places her hand on the Quran and takes an oath that
she is married to it until death.
The trend is more notable amongst the rich and feudal families in Sindh. It was first devised to deny women theirrights of inheritance and out of fear of property being passed on to outsiders through the daughters or sisters [i.e.,their spouses or children].
The term Karo Kari is commonly used as a synonym to honor killing, especially in the Sindh region of Pakistan.
Vani (custom) Wikipedia
4 Sawara is a custom where girls, often minors, are given in marriage or servitude to an aggrieved family as compensation to end disputes, often murder.
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No.102 Online Newslettering etc. They mainly encounter violence by being forced into marriage, forced conversions, through public place/workplace sexual harassment, domestic violence and byhonor killings.
Illegal trade of women and girls for the purpose of exploitation, including sexual exploitation and forced labor is also common in the country. Women in Pakistan aremostly trafficked to Gulf countries by making false promises of better job opportunities,
where they are subjected to sexual abuse. Poverty, illiteracy, patriarchal system, andlack of awareness about basic legal rights are the root causes of GBV in Pakistan.
A few of the most recently reported incidents of GBV in Pakistan are as follows:•

On 29th March 2024, Man killed his wife5 for refusing to allow secondmarriage.

•

On 26th February, 2024 a woman faced harassment for wearing attire6 withArabic prints. Police intervened to rescue her from the mob.

•

The night between 17th and 18th March 2024, the victim7, was subjected toincest by her brother and father. According to the initial report it is told thatshe had become pregnant, and they planned to kill her.

•On 25th February, 2024 a 12-year-old housemaid was tortured8 to death.

•On 29th November, 2023 a man killed 9 his teenage daughter on instructions from family elders because she had appeared in a picture on socialmedia.

•On 27th September 2023, Kidnapped woman killed after rape10 in Punjab.

Man kills wife for refusing to allow second marriage
Police rescue woman surrounded by mob in Lahore over blasphemy allegations
7 ‘Women aren’t safe anywhere’: Video of man murdering sister in Toba Tek Singh enrages internet
8 12-year-old housemaid tortured to death in Faisalabad
9 Pakistani father, three relatives held for ‘honour killing’-police
10 Kidnapped woman killed after rape in Punjab
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In March 2023, a Christian widow raped and killed in Lahore for refusing
to convert.

Despite constitutional protections and international commitments, evidence suggeststhat GBV persists in various forms across the country. Shockingly, Pakistan ranks
poorly on international indices, such as being the sixth most dangerous state for women
overall and the fifth worst for domestic violence, according to a 2022 report by the Reuters Foundation.
The National Commission on Human Rights (NCHR) released a policy brief 11 on
March 8, 2023, reporting approximately 63,000 cases of gender-based violence (GBV)in Pakistan over a three-year period. Of particular concern is the surge in GBV thatbegan in the first half of 2020, when a lockdown was implemented to mitigate the spreadof Covid-19. While approximately 4,000 cases of GBV were reported in the first six
months after the lockdown was put in place, the following two and a half years saw anaverage of 10,500 cases of GBV per six months. This rapid increase in GBV highlights
the strong correlation between increased family time due to the lockdown and worsening
domestic violence incidents.
80 percent of these cases were related to domestic violence, while some 47 percent pertained to domestic rape, wherein married women experienced sexual abuse. The data
was based on reported cases; the actual number is feared to be much higher.
Between 70% and 90% of married women have experienced abuse/domestic violencefrom their spouses at any time in their lives according to a survey on 1,000 women in
Punjab, Pakistan. Violence by spouses and other male relatives against women is themost widespread form of violence in Pakistan. Early child marriage is one of the main
reasons of violence by spouses. Because minor girls are not mature enough to take theresponsibility of the marital life and their spouses and other relatives apply violence onthem and being tender in age they cannot fight against the inhumane acts. Violence isnot just restricted to physical means but psychological, verbal, financial domains as well.
There are a few causes that lead to such horrendous acts. The foremost being the factthat Pakistan observes a patriarchal system where male dominance is widely seen.

11DOMESTIC VIOLENCE POLICY BRIEF p.7
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The recently published Punjab Gender Parity 12 Report 2022 exposes the alarming frequency of incidents of violence against women. The report highlights incidents of violence against women in Punjab alone. However, other regions in the country are also
contending with similar cases of violence against women. According to data13 gatheredfrom the Office of the Inspector General of Punjab Police in the year 2022, as many as
34,854 cases of violence against women were reported in Punjab, with kidnapping being
the most common crime. Also, 1,024 women were murdered during the year. Of thewomen murdered, 395 lost their lives in incidents of domestic violence, 176 in the nameof honor 14 and 453 due to other motives. Of all GBV cases reported in Punjab, only 4%
resulted in convictions, while 96% ended in acquittals. Although there are no specificfigures to determine the rate of conviction and acquittals in other provinces of Pakistan.
For achieving a violence free society where all genders and especially women have protection from violence, abuse, discrimination and exploitation, Government of Pakistan,NGO’s and advocacy groups are working together and in a result of their efforts there
are a few good federal and provincial pro-women legislations 15 are made and alsostrong institutions came into force for their implementation.
One good example of the legal developments in Punjab-Pakistan is the implementationof The Punjab Protection of Women against Violence (Amended) Act 2022 (PPWAVAct 2022) which aims to protect women from domestic, sexual, psychological and economic abuse, stalking and cyber-crimes, perpetrated by their husband(s), sibling(s),adopted children, relatives and domestic employers. The District Women Protection
Centers in Punjab-Pakistan established under Punjab Women 16 Protection Authority
after the said amendment in PPWAV Act 2022 are serving the GBV survivors under
one roof i.e., provision of first aid, post-trauma rehabilitation, police reporting, FIR
lodging, prosecution, medical examination, and forensics.
The Protection 17 against Harassment of Women at the Workplace (Amendment) Act,
2022, is also a very good legislation. It expands the definition of workplaces to encompass both formal and informal workplaces. The new legislation specifically includes
domestic workers, who are often at greater risk of workplace violence and harassment.
This law includes an expanded definition of harassment that includes “discriminationon the basis of gender, which may or may not be sexual in nature.”
Research and Publication
Punjab Records 10,365 Cases Of Violence Against Women In Just Four Months
14 HONOUR KILLING REPORTED CASES (2011-2022)
15 List of Federal and Provincial Pro-Women Laws
16 Aiming to Achieve Violence Free Society for Women
17 The Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace
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The data of the complaints received so far against harassment is given in their detailed
report 18.
The Transgender19 Persons (protection of rights) act 2018 is passed by the national assembly of Pakistan to protect them from harassment and discrimination, to provide relief
and rehabilitation of rights and for their welfare. The section 13(1) of Anti-Rape20 (Investigation and Trial) Act 2021, thereof expressly prohibits two-finger virginity testingfor the medico-legal examination of a survivor of the GBV. On-camera proceedings in
GBV courts are also taking place so that the GBV survivor can talk about the incident
respectfully.
Pakistan has moved away from being gender insensitive to being somewhat gender sensitive in their formal system after the recent positive legal developments. Pakistani
women are slowly and gradually knowing about their rights, fighting for them and raising their voices too. But there is still a long way to go and there is an urgent need for concerted effort to address and eradicate GBV in Pakistan.

About the Author:
Jawaria A Kashif, Advocate High Court is a Family Case Lawyer,
GBV expert, Women Rights Activist, Member of Panel of Voluntary
Lawyers at District Women Protection Centre, Lahore-Pakistan.
She was the 28th Foreign Correspondent of KFAW.

OFFICE OF THE OMBUDSPERSON GOVERNMENT OF THE PUNJAB
The Transgender Persons (protection of rights) act 2018
20 The section 13(1) of Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Act 2021
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Transgender is discussing problems regarding

Legal awareness session with GBV Survivors.

identity registration with the National Databaseand Registration Authority during a session oftransgender rights in Pakistan.

Men are also sensitized about women rights,
legal punishments about denial of rights andguided to treat women equally in their families.
An awareness session with women regarding public place harassment and workplace harassment.

Awareness session with college students regarding family laws and constitutional basic fundamental rights.

Thank you for reading. Any comments and suggestions are welcome.
Email us!
info@kfaw.or.jp

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