MULTAN, Nov 25: White Ribbon Campaign Pakistan and Ali Organisation for Development staged separate demonstrations outside the local press club to mark the International Day for Elimination of Violence against Women here on Tuesday.

Carrying banners and placards, participants chanted slogans to end all kinds of violence against women.

Addressing the participants, Ayaz Ali Sheikh, of the Ali Organisation for Development, said that people’s right to live free of violence and discrimination was being violated all over the world and the women were the prime victim of such violence which destroyed families and communities besides retarding social and economic progress.

He said that despite constituting over 50 per cent of the population, women in Pakistan were considered second grade citizens and incidents of rape, murder, domestic violence, and acid-throwing were common in society. He said that it was matter of great concern that Pakistan was one of the six countries with the highest rate of violence against women.

He said that men should be educated that their masculinity could be used in a healthy and positive way instead.

He said that there was a need to make world a safer place for women and the first step towards this goal was effective policing.

“Police should be able to instill confidence in the victim, not scare her away from the police station. The rehabilitation of victim should also be a priority of the state and any molestation, teasing or harassment must not be tolerated and the victim must be encouraged to speak up” he said.—Staff Correspondent