PESHAWAR, July 20: The UN Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) has expressed concern over violence against women, including crimes committed in the name of honour, and urged Pakistan to adopt a comprehensive approach to curb all forms of violence against women.

The committee also noted with concern the lack of data on violence against women in the periodic report presented by Pakistan. The committee is especially concerned about the Qisas and Diyat law which allows for victims of violence or his/her heirs to determine whether to exact retribution (Qisas) or payment of compensation (Diyat) or to pardon the accused. This provided impunity for perpetrators of violence against women, especially honour-related crimes against women, said Rukhshinda Naz, resident director of the Aurat Foundation, Peshawar, at a gathering of media people, lawyers, government officials and women’s rights activists here on Friday.

Ms Naz, who had presented recommendations on behalf of NGOs, including Aurat Foundation, Shirkat Gah, Noor Education Trust, Films d’ Art, National Commission for Justice and Peace, at the UN 38th session held in May-June in New York, said that during the meeting, NGOs had urged the government to show commitment to uphold state obligations under the CEDAW and create effective monitoring mechanisms to review progress on the matter.

She said they were pleased to see that most of the key recommendations presented by the NGOs were included in the committee’s concluding comments.

Ms Naz and Zubaida Noor, who had also attended the UN committee meeting, told the gathering that most of the concerns shown by the NGOs were also expressed by the committee in its concluding comments.

Ms Noor said the committee had urged the government to undertake a comprehensive and systematic review of all discriminatory legislation, including the Citizen Act of 1951, Law of Evidence of 1984 and Hudood ordinances of 1979 without delay and ensure full compliance with provisions of the convention and the committee’s general recommendations in consultation with the civil society, including women’s organisations.

The CEDAW had showed concern that informal dispute resolution forums (jirgas) continued to function and take decisions that called for perpetration of violence against women, despite the ruling of a superior court requiring the elimination of such forums.

The committee in its concluding comments had also expressed concern over the lack of accountability for crimes of violence against women within the criminal justice system and urged Pakistan to end impunity for acts of violence.

It had expressed concerns about pervasive patriarchal attitudes and deep-rooted traditional and cultural stereotypes regarding the roles and responsibilities of women and men in family, workplace and society. It had also expressed concern about the prevailing trends of fundamentalism, intimidation and violence. It had maintained that Pakistan was a country of origin, transit and destination for trafficked women.

The committee had urged Pakistan to consider ratifying treaties to which it was not yet a party, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, International Covenant on Economics, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Convention on Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.