VIOLENCE against women is common in our society. Millions of women face violence in the form of rape, marital rape, domestic violence, psychological and emotional abuse, ‘honour’ killing, dowry and inheritance related murder, acid attacks, forced marriages, mob violence, stalking, sexual harassment, human trafficking and sexual slavery, mistreatment of widows, forced sterilisation, forced abortions, stoning and flogging, violence by the police and other authority figures, obstetric violence and sport-related violence.

Even those claiming to work for women’s rights are sometimes perpetrators of such violence.

About 60-90pc Pakistani women suffer from some form of abuse. It is estimated that more than 5,000 women are killed every year in Pakistan. One INGO reported that in 2015 six women were kidnapped, four raped, three committed suicide and six were murdered every day in Pakistan. These statistics are only growing.

The reality is that women in Pakistan are always treated as second-class citizens. We have to admit, sadly, that this is because the state cannot make a clear distinction on whether it’s secular or theocratic. The great philosopher and diplomat Charles Habib Malik said: “The fastest way to change society is to mobilise the women of the world.”

Saira Salman

Sukkur

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2017