As per statistics issued by the Federal Ministry of Human Rights, Pakistan saw a significant decline in the reported number of cases of violence against women during the last three years.
Despite the decline in the number of reported cases, the data from provincial helplines for women depicts a horrific state of women’s rights, especially in Sindh and Punjab.
Officials working for women’s rights in northern Sindh and southern Punjab consider the place to be “hell” for women and their rights.
The Ministry of Human Rights Toll-Free Helpline data shows Punjab contributed the most to the total complaints registered by women all over Pakistan, as the province made up to 73% of the total cases of violence against women in the country.
Gilgit Baltistan is the only region where these cases are minimal. In this year, only two complaints by women were reported in GB. The maximum cases reported in the region were not even more than 10 in 2018.
Cases related to the abuse of women in Islamabad in the last three years were more than those occurred in all of Balochistan, AJK and GB.
The data provided by Ministry of Human Rights showed that the total complaints made to the helpline (1099) by women in 2018 stood at 6,238. Whereas, in 2020, around 1,718 complaints of violence against women emerged, with only 1,655 in the first half of the current year 2021
Most complaints were related to family disputes followed by gender based violence and harassment at the workplace.
Ayesha Hassan, a social activist for the rights of women and also head of Women Protection Organisation in Sindh stated that the northern part of Sindh has become a graveyard for women. “Northern Sindh has been declared a killing ground for women. During the first six months of this year, 91 people were killed among which 66 were women who were blackmailed and then brutally killed”.
