KARACHI: Activists of civil society on Monday called for immediate action against criminals involved in recent heinous crimes, including brutal murder of a seven-year-old girl in Karachi and attacks on girls’ schools in Diamer, Gilgit-Baltistan.

In a joint statement, they demanded the institutions concerned and all political parties to demonstrate their political will and commitment to rise above their differences and urgently work together to jointly address such rampant targeted gender-based violence and misogyny.

“These atrocities go beyond party politics,” said the statement. “We call upon all state institutions to take urgent action to protect girls’ schools everywhere, and demand immediate establishment and functioning of the National Commission on Child Rights (NCCR) and its provincial counterparts.”

It said that whether it was sexual violence or hatred of educating girls or the sale, trafficking and prostitution of young girls on a large scale, there was still an open season for girls all over Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2018