LARKANA, April 10: About 135 million women are subjected to severe violence, including lethal karo-kari, witch-hunt and genital mutation the world over every year. This was stated by Iqbal Ahmed Detho, secretary-general of the Pakistan chaper of Amnesty International. He was addressing a seminar on ‘Women Rights Are Human Rights’ here on Saturday night.

He said 167 million women were subjected to beating, sexual harassment, trafficking and gender bias and other kind torture every year in the world.

Forty-two per cent women accepted torture and violence as their fate, 33 per cent showed helplessness, 19 per cent could protest against the violence while only 4 per cent women fought back for their rights, the AI office-bearer said.

District Nazim Mohammed Bakhsh Arijo, presiding over the seminar, said women had equal rights to that of men and if any man usurped the rights of women, he was committing a sin.

He said: “The law to protect women rights is in the Holy Quran. We should refer it instead of referring to documents and laws about protection of the rights of women prepared by the United Nations, the United States or any other country.”

Prof Mukhtiar Samo, honorary director of the Knowledge Center Larkana, said violation against women could only be fought with literacy.

Union Council Nazim Badurddin Abbasi said women were the creatures of God like any other human beings. Violation of their rights was the violation of human rights

Ms Rozina Shaikh, Ms Nitasha Abbasi, Ms Aseya Abbasi, Professor Abdul Malik Arain, Ms Kulsoom Samo, Ms Saima Larik, Ms Mariam Khokhar, Ms Saira Samo, Ms Asman Lakho, Ms Sindhu Abbasi, Ms Shekel Jiskani, Asma Abbasi and Shakeela Abbasi also spoke on the occasion.

They said the woman was harassed every where, which forced her to remain confined only to the four walls of the house. In this condition, she could not play her role in society.

The murder of women in the name of honour killing, they said, was the darkest side of our society.