KARACHI: Women’s Action Forum has demanded that the provincial government establish the Sindh Commission on the Status of Women to uplift the status of women in the province.

The demand was part of a resolution forwarded by the Women’s Action Forum (WAF) to the government on the occasion of National Women’s Day.

The WAF demanded that the Sindh government take steps to ensure that 33 per cent seats are reserved for women in the local bodies government.

It urged the government to take immediate steps to resolve the issue of jirga and establish a standing committee for monitoring the jirga system where women rights were often compromised. The government must also build a mechanism for easy access to the standing committee by NGOs and women violated by jirgas, the WAF statement said.

It demanded that DNA test be made mandatory and treated as primary evidence in rape cases. DNA testing should be provided free of cost, it added.

The government was further requested to take immediate steps to increase funds to upgrade women’s shelters ensuring that they were in every district and effectively managed.

The WAF said that women’s and minority rights were not negotiable and must not be compromised in the so-called negotiations with the Taliban.