ISLAMABAD - Over 8539 cases of violence against women were reported during 2011. A large number of these cases involved acid throwing and rape incidents.
This was stated by Devolution Trust for Community Empowerment Chief Operating Officer Azhar Bashir Malik while speaking at a seminar titled ‘Gender Based Violence’ at a local hotel on Tuesday to mark the National Women’s Day.
The seminar was held in connection with a Gender Equity Program (GEP) campaign on gender based violence to highlight the issue in the Pakistani context. The GEP is a 5-year programme initiated by the Aurat Foundation in collaboration with the Asia Foundation and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Malik said the seminar was organised to appreciate the struggle of Pakistani women for their legal rights. She stated that the increase in the number of cases of violence against women meant that more cases were now being reported, which highlighted the development of the information mechanism for handling the situation.
Creative Anger Executive Director Dr Rakhshanda Perveen said gender is based on the social system while sex is biological. “Females, males and members of the transgender community suffer injustices. For example, a lot of women are the victims of honour killing,” she said.
She stressed that men should be included in such seminars as they are the social gatekeepers. “We have two choices-either you enjoy the conveniences of subordination or chose to pay for empowerment,” she added. Aurat Foundation National Coordinator Rabeea Hadi briefly explained the ‘Qanun- e-Shadat’ and also shared the statistical data related to gender-based violence from 2008 to 2011. She also added that men were responsible for protecting women’s rights.