Domestic Violence needs to end in Pakistan

Women are treated as second-class citizens all over the world, but more specifically in developing countries, they are oppressed in different sectors of life. Pakistan is one of the living examples of such developing countries which has been facing this issue since it got independence.

The women in Pakistan are approximately equivalent in numbers to men. They live in the most diversified tribal, feudal, or urban culture. About 50 percent of the Pakistani girls drop out of school and the literacy rate for women is among the lowest in the world. Only 16 percent of Pakistani women were reported as economically active in 2005 while a study conducted in 1996 by the women’s division of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan showed that domestic violence takes place in about 80 percent of Pakistani households.

Additionally, Pakistani is a male-dominated society where women are isolated from different spheres of life which are perhaps due to the traditional norms prevailing in the community. Women’s contributions are hardly acceptable to the production and physical hardships. A woman always suffers in education, health and gets targetted for her gender. In some parts of the country, especially in KPK and Balochistan, she is considered a commodity owned by her brother and father before marriage and then by her husband post-marriage. In most cases, she can’t even make decisions for herself and her life. This act is justified as their religious and cultural norms.

However, Islam does not consider women as subordinate to men where they have full freedom, as an individual, and will be questioned for their practices only by GOD. Islam also, doesn’t allow any kind of discrimination based on gender and it is against the teaching of the Quran and the sayings of the Prophet (PBUH) that teach the lesson of equal rights for both, men and women. Allah Almighty says in the Quran, “And women shall have equal rights to the rights against them, according to what is equitable (Al Quran Surah Baqara 2.28). However, the tasks assigned to both of them are not the same. They have been given different capabilities by their creator, and the task assigned to them is based on those capabilities. This distinction is natural and not an error that has to be corrected, this is only for the purpose to build a healthy and prosperous society.

Violence against women in Pakistan is a serious issue mainly due to lack of education, low empowerment, misconceptions about Islam, and practical implementations of rules and regulations which has turned into a nightmare for women. A study reveals that out of three one Pakistani woman report facing domestic violence, but the informal estimates are much higher. Women who experience domestic violence are at a higher risk of experiencing a range of mental health conditions, domestic violence and oppression of women especially at home is unacceptable. Recently, we have witnessed a heart-wrenching incident of Qurat-ul-Ain Baloch, the mother of four children who was allegedly murdered by her husband Umer Khalid Memon after being brutally tortured.

Similarly, other painful videos and images of women abuse have surfaced in recent times, hundreds of thousands of women across the country face this situation but have not been able to lift their voices due to lack of support from their families.

Though in the last 10 years there has been a bit of success in passing policies to prevent horrific practices against women still pressure needs to be maintained on the government both on the provincial and federal level to tackle the situation of domestic violence more responsibly and sensibly to make sure that they treat this issue as a priority. The time is right to act on this issue people really need to step forward for the protection of women.

Consequently, introducing laws that lack implementation will not be able to help the state in fulfilling its responsibilities regarding women’s protection. Such laws need proper clarity and day-to-day improvement, the state is responsible for providing protection to its citizens if we won’t continue to raise the issue of domestic violence on women and girls the situation will further deteriorate.

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