Violence against women in Pakistan worsened under Imran Khan's regime

Violence against women in Pakistan continues unabashed, it has witnessed rising cases of harassment under the Imran Khan regime.

There is a surge in domestic violence, rape, acid attacks, while, forced conversions and marriages, discrimination in job opportunities have become a norm, reported International Forum For Rights And Security (IFFRAS).

Every successive government has failed to ensure a safe and open atmosphere for Pakistani women as none wanted to irk radicals who cited religious practices for suppression of women's rights and even to deny basic liberties. The current Imran Khan-led government is no exception to it. Rather the problem appears to have worsened in his regime, reported IFFRAS.

Interestingly, Khan's party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has joined hands with its bitter rival Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), in opposing Aurat March - an annual event held on International Women's Day on March 8 to highlight women's issues.

Risks arising from the radical religious and traditional practices, including honour killings, have made the life of Pakistani women harrowing, said rights activists, reported IFFRAS.

A global report by the Thomson Reuters Foundation has mentioned that Pakistan is the sixth most dangerous country for women.

In the Global Gender Gap Report 2021 published by the World Economic Forum, Pakistan has featured in the worst four countries.

The patriarchal attitude that is invigorated by the radical religious practices is the main reason for the women's rights abuses, reported IFFRAS.

Pakistan's government has also failed to stop the forced conversion of women from minority communities. As per media reports, over 1,000 such girls are abducted in Pakistan annually and 70 per cent of them are minor. They are forced to change their religious identity and married off, often sold off.

United Nations `Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against Women' expressed concerns over the "uneven" application of gender equality policies and programmes in Pakistan as well as raised alarm over violence against women, forced marriages and honour killings.

The prosecution and judicial services in Pakistan have very little to offer for women victims as the loopholes in the law ensure the perpetrators are not punished and even charged, Rimmel Mohydin, South Asia campaigner at Amnesty International said.

In September 2020, a French woman stuck on the highway to Lahore after her car ran out of fuel. She called the police helpline but there was no help. She was raped by two locals in front of her two children. It created a huge uproar in Pakistan over the safety of women. However, Lahore's top cop Umer Sheikh blamed the French woman for asking why she did not take the busier road, reported IFFRAS.

Pakistani Prime Minister, who is an Oxford graduate, blamed women for the rising crimes against them. He asked women to cover up to prevent temptation in any society where vulgarity is prevalent and hence there are consequences.

Such statements have the effect of further traumatizing and silencing survivors of sexual violence by placing the blame on them, instead of on those who carry out the crime and the system that enables rapists, reported IFFRAS.

( With inputs from ANI )