By: Asim Nawaz Abbasi
A 35-years-old woman and her daughter were raped by a rickshaw driver and his accomplice in Lahore; On independence day of Pakistan, a TikToker was sexually harassed in Lahore; a woman on a rickshaw was harassed publically in Lahore and people were cheering; Noor Mukadam, daughter of a Diplomat, was brutally bumped off in Islamabad; a female school teacher was raped by owner of the school; a minor girl was raped by the principal of seminary; a woman was gang-raped by robbers in front of her family in Sheikhupura; a man with his three friends gang-raped his fiancée and snatched jewelry; the 16-years-old girl was raped by her stepfather in Lahore; mother of four children was raped in Bhagatpura; a 10-years-old was raped in Manwan; 17-years-old girl was raped after being promised a job; a minor girl was raped and sent to a cemetery in Korangi; a woman was abducted and gang-raped; an elderly woman was tortured, dragged and attempted to rape. Few cases have been quoted here. Sorrowfully, numerous other cases are remaining to be mentioned here. Unfortunately, a tiny figure of cases have been reported, still beaucoup cases are unreported.
Given obnoxious incidents give women a sense of insecurity and uncertainty. Wretchedly, women in our society are deemed as prey and an open invitation by mad dogs (rapists) which they cannot evade and leave no stone unturned to assault them. The exponential rise in gender-based violence has proselytized our society into a hell for women, where they are considered as an inferior segment of society. This abysmal picture of our society adversely impacts our international image.
The study conducted by Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, despite improving in women’s perception of community safety, still ranks Pakistan fourth among the worst countries for women to live in.
In accordance with the official data- collected from law enforcement agencies and human rights commission of Pakistan- at least 11 rape cases are reported regularly in Pakistan. More, the last six years data unearthed an icky tally of 22,000 cases registered to police in Pakistan. Dolefully, the conviction rate stood at 0.3% of total figure.
Research conducted by Geo News revealed that only 41 per cent of cases have been reported to the Police. A police official estimated the actual number could be as high as 60,000 in last five years.
Furthermore, the Cyber Wing of the FIA in Lahore told that they have received 6,168 sexual harassment complaints out of total 14,108 in less than eight months. It further explained that mostly the complaints were lodged by University and College students relating to blackmailing by peers through the use of doctored videos and photographs.
Regarding violence against women, Punjab made up to 73 per cent of total cases, Ministry of Human Rights Toll-free helpline data showed. Besides, recent data by Punjab police divulged 1,890 rape cases and 88 gang-rape cases have been registered just in first six months of this year.
The reasons behind the alarming rise in rape cases, which are mostly opined and observed personally, are rivalries, perpetrators remain scot-free, and the incompetency of police.
In rivalries, various women have been raped because perpetrators think that it is better to mean to smirch the antagonist and avenge. As of the June of this year, when a boy tied a love knot with the daughter of an influential person, to avenge his mother 50-years-old was kidnapped, tortured, dragged, burned half-naked body with cigarette butts and attempted to rape by that influential person in Muzaffargarh. Exclusively, in village sides, women are raped in compensation, if the victim’s father, brother or guardian has raped any girl.
Besides, since 2015, more than 22,000 cases of harassment have been registered to police, more than 4000 cases are still pending in the courts and only 18 percent of cases have managed to reach prosecution. Backlog of cases takes too much time to provide justice to women and deter others to execute the same. Thereby, executors remain unpunished and rape another woman with impunity. In some cases, rapists are granted pre-arrest bails. Afterward, they threaten the victim and her family to withdraw case; which fingers out the competency and justice of honorable courts and provides free space to those rapists to continue harassing women.
Apart from this, various cases are not reported due to family or social pressure, because they have to undergo another victimization. Karachi-based organization, War Against Rape (WAR), exposed that women who report the crime are coerced to visit male-dominated police stations and asked unnecessary questions that is why people remain silent and do not register complaints to shun answering gratuitous questions, which creates obstacles in the way of justice by sparing space to rapists.
Apart, victim-blaming also desists victims to register complaints. The victim’s character is questioned, she is blamed for the rape and some misogynists and advocates of patriarchal society put allegations on the victim giving illogical reasons. In consequence, the victim finds it easy to be silent rather than being pilloried countrywide and does not register her complaint, which indirectly paves the way for rapists to feel free from being brought to book and harass women whenever and wherever they want.
To counter this evil, Punjab Police has launched a safety App that will enable women to contact police through a message and it will enable Police to trace the location of complainants through smartphones. Senior Police official assured that App will be launched in all districts of Punjab soon and a special squad will be formed soon in this regard. This initiative is praiseworthy and can be fruitful if cooperated. All women should download this App so that in any emergency they can contact the Police easily.
Additionally, separate courts for rape cases should be operational as soon as possible in order to evade years of pending cases. More medico-legal officers should be appointed to speed up the medical process. Police should enforce all anti-harassment, anti-rape and anti-crimes against women laws and all women should be acquainted with these laws so that they can report crimes easily and immediately.
To sum up, society will remain hell for women, until our society is patriarchal and culprits remain scot-free. No society can be stable and prosperous if women of that society are not secure and honored by every individual. If the mentioned laws are implemented effectively, women of our society can live respectfully and society can be a heaven for them.
The writer is the editor at The Dayspring. He can be reached at [email protected]