ISLAMABAD, Dec 1: Islam is the true guardian of women rights, a Judge from Liverpool, United, Ms Marilyn Morington, said here on Thursday. She was speaking at a seminar on “Violence against Women and Criminal Justice System: Challenge and Response”, organized by the Parliamentarians Commission for Human Rights (PCHR) in collaboration with the Islamabad police.

The judge cited verses from the Holy Quran and referred to the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) and said: “Islam is a religion which lays emphasis on giving the women their due rights.”

She was of the opinion that violence against women was not only the issue of developing countries, but of the developed as well. She said the criminal justice system of the developed countries was most responsive to gender based violence.

Federal Minister for Law, Justice and Human Rights Muhammad Wasi Zafar in his inaugural address said the government was taking steps to reform the criminal justice system for protection of women rights.

He said the Federal Cabinet had already approved Law Reform Bill 2005, which suggests several amendments in Civil and Criminal Procedure Code, giving relief to women.

Speaking at the seminar, commission Executive Director MNA Ms Kashmala Tariq said the phenomenon of violence against women badly damages human development goals, causing depression, suicides among women, sexual dysfunction and maternal mortality.

She focused upon affecting behavioural change towards treatment of women and added that human rights education could be of great help. She also highlighted the outline the amendments suggested earlier to fine tune Hadood Ordinance and Honour Killing Laws. Police Bureau Director-General Dr Shoaib Saddal, SP Investigation Ehsan Sadiq, Justice (Retd) Khalil-ur-Rehamn, MNAs Ms Jamila Ahmed and Kanwar Khalid Younas also addressed the seminar.