KARACHI, March 2: Speakers at a consultation on Thursday pointing out that domestic violence was rampant in society demanded that specific laws should be formulated to check the menace effectively.

Speaking at the ‘Consultation with the Parliamentarians on Domestic Violence’ organized by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, they said that occurrence of domestic violence was so common that many people did not even know that it was a crime.

They said various other countries in the region including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Mauritius, Malaysia, and India had specific laws for dealing with the issue, and it was high time that specific laws were formulated here as well so that the rights of Pakistani women could be safeguarded as well.

They stressed that a widespread awareness campaign on the issue should be launched so that a larger and ignorant section of society could become aware. And also so that victims knew their rights and the culprits were aware that they were committing a crime for which they could be prosecuted and sentenced.

Parliamentarians Sherry Rehman, Haider Rizvi, Shazia Marri, Kulsoom Nizamani, Bilqees Mukhtar, Sharafunnisa Leghari, Humaira Alwani, Hameedullah Khan, Rajvair Singh Sodho, Shama Mithani, and Zohra Yusuf, Iqbal Haider, Danish Zuberi and others also spoke.

Some speakers suggested that awareness sessions for parliamentarians should be organized so they could understand the issue in a better way and subsequently play their part to solve the issue.

Pointing out that women after being victimized went to the police and later to the judiciary, they suggested that special training sessions should be organized for officials belonging to the police and judiciary so that they developed a sympathetic attitude when women victims approached them for their grievances.

Referring to the large number of women in Parliament, they suggested that all women members should rise above party politics and take a joint stand whenever an issue relating to women was being discussed or decided in the House.

They also suggested that women parliamentarians should not be thinking of scoring a point while raising an issue or a bill on women issues. They should rather focus on and support the issue regardless of the fact who had raised it.

Some speakers, however, regretted that women members were not being given due opportunity to function in the male dominated parliament owing to which they were unable to play their due role in the house.

Highlighting the government’s discriminatory attitude against women victims of violence, they said the government had put the names of a gang rape victim and a women victim of acid attack on the ECL while the culprits had not yet been punished sternly.

They also demanded that all laws that were discriminatory towards any section of society, including women, should be abolished and women-friendly legislation should be formulated.

Some parliamentarians belonging to the Opposition said though they had submitted private bills on women issues, the government was using administrative methods for delaying a discussion.