KARACHI, June 22: Speakers at a workshop on 'Social Audit of Abuse Against Women' on Tuesday suggested that violence against women in the country could only be reduced by providing them with education, economic security , improved social status, besides better planning regarding their issues.

They were speaking at a plenary workshop to discuss the policy recommendations arising from findings of "The social audit of abuse against women," organized by the CIET International, in collaboration with the Sidh Women Development department at a hotel.

Sindh Additional Chief Secretary Ghulam Sarwar Khero, Information Secretary Ms Mehtab Akbar Rashdi, Women Development Secretary Aftab Ahmed Memon, Assistant Resident Representative UNDP-Pakistan, Ms Faiza Effandi, UNDP Senior Gender Advisor Dr Socorro L Reyes, CIET Country Programme Manager Dr Anne Cockcroft and Women Development Director Ms Farzana Saleem, spoke on the occasion.

The social audit report on abuse against women was also presented at the workshop, which was prepared after a countrywide survey. The report is based on interviews of women from various walks of life, belonging to different age groups and living in different parts of the country.

It says that the women were being abused, both mentally and physically, and the ratio of the abuse was increasing, especially in rural areas of Sindh, Balochistan and the NWFP.

Dr Crockroft said that during the survey it was found that women had to face many problems, like when men leer at them, which curtailed their social activities, while the incidents of beating and burning of women were also common in the country.

She said in most areas of Sindh, Balochistan and the NWFP, honour of the family is thought to be depending on its women members. Mr Khero appreciated the UNDP, CIET and Sindh Women Development department for their efforts to identify women's problems and for making recommendations to redress their issues.

He said the Sindh Rural Development Programme had been launched with Rs500 million to promote education in rural areas of Sindh and expressed the hope that the programme would help improve the situation.

He assured that the department would extend full cooperation for women development in the province. Mrs Mehtab Akbar Rashidi said that besides highlighting the women issues, it was necessary that some solution to these issues be found.

Abuse against women was not just an issue in rural areas but it was also hitting the urban women as well, she added. "In Western countries, police arrests a father if he beats his son but there is no such institution in our country, which provides shelter to women," she said, adding that no woman liked to go to any shelter home because such places could not provide the women with all facilities of life.

"A woman in our country compromises in every situation for the sake of her home and her children," she said. The disputes between a wife and her husband could increase manifold due to poverty and unemployment, she said.

Sindh Women Development Secretary Aftab Ahmed Memon, speaking at this occasion, highlighted different programmes designed by the department for women uplift in the province. -PPI