GENDER-Based Violence (GBV) refers to violence committed against individuals based on their gender or perceived gender. It can affect anyone, regardless of age, race, religion or socio-economic background. GBV takes various forms, including physical, verbal, sexual, socio-economic and psychological abuse. Psychological GBV is closely linked with other types, compounding the impact on survivors. The consequences of GBV are severe, including physical and mental health issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder, permanent disabilities and even death in some cases. In Pakistan, women and children, particularly girls, are the majority of GBV survivors.
GBV in Pakistan manifests in forms such as domestic violence, workplace harassment, acid attacks, sexual abuse, honour killings, trafficking, child/early/forced marriages, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and online harassment/exploitation/violence. While landmark legislation has been enacted in the past two decades to address GBV, some forms, notably child marriages and FGM/C, require further legislative attention. Collaboration between federal and provincial governments, along with ongoing advocacy efforts, is essential to effectively combat GBV and protect vulnerable individuals.
Child, early and forced marriage cases are reported from all provinces of Pakistan and there is no uniform legislation in the country on child/early/forced marriages. Each province sets its own age of marriage starting from 16 years and goes to 18 years. Moreover, underage marriage is an offence in one province but legal in other. So, perpetrators take the benefit of this lacuna in the legislation and commit offences in those provinces where underage marriage is legitimate. Only Sindh province has enacted a model legislation on child/early/forced marriages, i.e., the marriageable age is set as 18 years for both bride and groom, but despite this model legislation, Sindh province is on top amongst all the provinces in respect of reporting of cases of child/early/forced marriages. This reflects the lack of enforcement of legislation in the province.
The other type of gender-based violence in Pakistan, which requires the attention of legislators, is the female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), a traditional harmful practice that involves the partial or total removal of external female genitalia in order to preserve her premarital virginity and chastity. In Pakistan, it is exercised by Dawoodi Bohra community in Sindh province as part of their religious, cultural or traditional belief. It is claimed that approx. 90precent of Bohra girls are forced to undergo FGM/C. This practice is also found in Muslim communities near Iran-Pakistan border. The Holy Quran is completely silent about female circumcision and references associated with Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) are weak and unauthentic. In Pakistan, there are no laws and administrative measures to stop practices of FGM/C. This is because it’s practiced secretly by a small religious community in the country and underreported due to its taboo nature.
The above-mentioned examples of cases of GBV committed in Pakistan severely violate the international human rights standards set for the protection of human rights of women, girls and children and ultimately lower the Pakistan’s international ranking amongst those countries where women/girls/children rights are fulfilled. International human rights monitoring organizations have ranked Pakistan in the list of top four worst and dangerous nations for women in the world. According to World Economic Forum’s 2022 Global Gender Gap Index, Pakistan is a second worst country for women in terms of gender parity, because women/girls are not given the same status as that of men/boys in the society, which ultimately deprive them for fulfilment of their civil, political, economic, social, health, educational and cultural rights. According to the UNFPA, 32% of women in Pakistan have faced some form of GBV and between 70% and 90% of married women have experienced abuse from their spouses at some point in their lives.
The causes of GBV in Pakistan are patriarchy, poverty, illiteracy, ignorance, unawareness of basic human rights, unemployment, temporary or low income jobs, out of school children, gender inequality, excessive sexual offences against women and girls in society, social/cultural/religious practices such as vaniswara (girls are given to aggrieved family as compensation to settle disputes), addo baddo (marriage of underage girl with her paternal first cousin), wattasatta (exchange of girls through marriage), walwar (selling of girls by setting their price), marriage of girl with Holy Quran, paitlikkhi (marriage of children are decided before their birth or in very young age by parents), linking of girl marriage with option of puberty, curse of dowry in society etc.
Some key recommendations to control GBV cases in Pakistan are; 1. Legislation and policies on child/early/forced marriages and FGM/C should be enacted/amended according to international legal/policy framework on GBV and ultimately ensure the effective implementation of domestic laws/policies on GBV by federal/provincial governments. 2. The conviction rate in GBV cases is negligible, so the capacity of judiciary, police and medical practitioners on forensic handling of such cases should be built by providing them state-of-the-art training on this subject. 3. The Government should launch massive awareness campaign against GBV through print/electronic media and in-person awareness sessions should be conducted in those communities where prevalence of such cases is dominant.
—The writer is a former Programme Policy Advisor at National Commission on the Rights of Child, Govt of Pakistan, Islamabad.
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