In Lahore, a 35-year-old woman and her daughter were raped by a rickshaw driver and his accomplice. In Lahore, on Pakistan's Independence Day on August 14, a TikToker, a female user of the mobile phone app known as TikTok, was sexually harassed by a mob of some 400 people. In the same vein in Islamabad, Noor Mukadam, a daughter of a former diplomat, was brutally murdered and her head decapitated.
The litany of such ghastly crimes against women goes on, since numerous other cases cannot be mentioned here, while many such incidents go unreported, giving women a profound sense of insecurity and uncertainty. More's the pity, women in our society are deemed as an easy prey as well as an inferior segment of the society. The negative side of our society adversely impacts our international image too. As per a study carried out by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security based in Washington, Pakistan ranks as the fourth dangerous country for women to live in.
According to the official data gathered by the law enforcement agencies and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, at least 11 rape cases are reported regularly in the country, of which a whopping 22,000 cases were registered in the last six years only. Much to our chagrin, the conviction rate stands at merely 0.3%. The statistics of the Geo News TV channel reveal only 41 per cent cases are reported to the Police, while a police official believes the actual figure could be as high as 60,000 in the last five years.
According to the Cyber Wing of the FIA in Lahore, they have received a total of 6,168 sexual harassment complaints, of which around 14,108 complaints were filed in less than eight months. It further revealed that most complaints were lodged by university and college students, who were being blackmailed by their peers through the use of doctored videos and photographs. In terms of violence against women, Punjab tops the list with up to 73 per cent of total cases, as per the figures shown by the toll-free helpline service, which is run by the Ministry of Human Rights. In addition to that, according to the Punjab Police, they registered some 1,890 rape cases and 88 gang-rape cases just in the first six months of this year.
The reasons behind the alarming rise in rape cases are covert attempts to settle old-established rivalries, while perpetrators remain scot-free owing to the rampant incompetency of the law enforcement personnel. In June, for instance, a young boy of Muzaffargarh had a love marriage with the daughter of an influential person. As revenge for the love marriage with their daughter, the in-laws tortured and raped the boy's 50-year-old mother. Unfortunately mostly in rural settings, women are raped in compensation, if the victim’s father, brother or guardian has raped any girl.
Of over 22,000 cases of harassment registered by the Police since 2015, more than 4000 cases are still pending in the courts and only 18 per cent cases have managed to reach the prosecutor's office. Owing to a huge backlog of unsolved cases, it takes plenty of time to provide justice to the victims women and the perpetrators remain unpunished, thus committing the same crimes against other women with impunity. In some cases, rapists are granted pre-arrest bails. Afterwards, they threaten the victim and her family to withdraw from the case.
Apart from this, various cases are not reported due to family or social pressure. The War Against Rape (WAR), a Karachi-based civil organization, says women who report the crime are coerced to visit male-dominated police stations and are asked unnecessary questions. Therefore, victims tend to remain silent and hesitate in registering the FIRs to avoid a shameful investigation and interrogation process, which creates obstacles in the way of justice by sparing enough space to offenders.
Most importantly, the unbridled victim-blaming also desists women to register the FIR. It is a matter of shame itself that the victim’s character is questioned and she is blamed for the rape. As a consequence, the victim finds it easy to remain. The Punjab Police has recently launched a mobile application to help women immediately contact the police through a message, which will enable Police to trace the location of the complainant being harassed or assaulted. The app will be soon launched in all districts of Punjab and a special squad will also be formed in this regard. This initiative is indeed a good initiative and women must download the app on their smart-phone devices.
In addition to that, separate courts particularly for the rape cases should be established for speedy justice. By the same token, more medico-legal officers need to be appointed to speed up the medical investigation process. The effective enforcement of pertinent laws is the need of the hour and a much-needed awareness of such laws among women will help them to better handle such incidents as they would be able to report such crimes without delay. Last but not least, culprits should be hanged publicly to make them a lesson for others.
Briefly put, the society will remain nothing more than a hell for women, until the society remains patriarchal and culprits are not penalized. No society can be prosperous if its women don't feel secure.
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