A total of 53 forced marriage cases involving women and underage girls were reported in Peshawar during the last year, shows official figures, as the inhuman cultural practices mostly remain unchecked amid a strong support for anti-women sentiments in the society.
Forced marriages unfortunately remain a part of society as the practice is followed religiously in Pakistan in name of family honour despite various legislations introduced to arrest domestic violence and extend women rights across the country without any discrimination based upon caste and creed as well social status.
The reason behind the state failure to provide protection to more than half of our population is twofold: lack of will and absence of resources. Lack of will means that the state isn’t ready to open support neither the girls nor the women in their quest for basic human rights and independence, fearing a social backlash.
The only solid state intervention to deal the serious issue was the Violence against Women Centre established by the PML-N government in 2017 in Multan – a facility that provides refuge and assistance to the victims under one roof. This ground-breaking initiative was supposed to expand across Punjab, but got stalled like other initiatives – mass transit and heath projects taken by the then government, as the PTI shifted its focus to things like relocating the Taliban in the erstwhile tribal areas of Pakistan.
Another aspect that must be not forgotten that these social evils were here even before the rise of extremism, which didn’t introduce the norms aimed at the curbing the women freedom.—INP
