RAWALPINDI: A new campaign titled ‘Enough: Together We Can End Violence Against Women and Girls’ which features rickshaws was launched by the Aurat Foundation and Oxfam Pakistan on Tuesday at the Pir Meher Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi (PMAS-AAUR).

The campaign aims to advocate elimination of violence against women and generate demands for effective implementation of pro-women laws and is held in connection with 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence.

The campaign will include more than 3,000 rickshaws inscribed with slogans and art work and playing feminist folk songs across Punjab and Sindh. Rickshaw drivers will be advocates for women’s rights.

Speaking at the launch of the event, Oxfam Country Director Mohammad Qazilbash said incidents of violence against women were emerging everyday from across the country despite the large amounts of pro-women legislation and policies being made.

“This signifies that our society has somehow accepted violence against women as normal behaviour. However, what has been learned can be unlearned. Enough is enough,” he said.

Retired Justice Nasira Iqbal said between 70 and 80pc of women in Pakistan face violence despite serious legislative and political measures having been taken. She praised the approval of pro-women laws in the recent past but pointed out gaps in the implementation of these laws.

She said that consent agreement or the ‘raazi nama’ is still an option in the honour killing law and that the Punjab Women Protection Act does not criminalise violence against women.

“Despite all these gaps, we are happy with the progress and hope that we will eventually be able to overcome the hurdles in implementation,” she said.

Australian High Commission First Secretary Trasey Graeney said violence against women is a global issue.

“One in four women experience violence in Australia,” she said, adding that violence against women have massive impacts on families and society.

“It restricts a woman’s potential to contribute to the economic development of a country,” she said.

National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) Chairperson Khawar Mumtaz stressed for the collaborative efforts and engagement of men to eliminate violence from society.

She suggested introduction of an app for speedy support for violence victims.

PMAS-AAUR Vice Chancellor Rai Niaz said that violence against women can be eliminated by making women independent.

Aurat Foundation’s Chief Operating Officer Naeem Ahmed Mirza shared the history of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence.

“Time has changed. This is the century of women, but women will have to stand up for their rights,” he said. The event concluded with the first Rickshaw rally launching from the university premises.

Published in Dawn November 30th, 2016