Zubair Qureshi Islamabad
Kidnapping of women, rape and violence against them were the most reported cases in the month of May 2022 and while a total of 131 cases of kidnapping of women were reported in mainstream media last month, 96 were reported only from the Punjab.
According to research by the Sustainable Social Development Organization (SSDO) and the Centre for Research, Development and Communication (CRDC), Sindh is the second province that reported 23 cases, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) 11 cases and one case was reported from Islamabad while no cases of kidnapping were reported from Balochistan.
Rape of women was the second most reported in the media, where a total of 57 cases were written about. The province of Punjab again reported the highest number of cases of rape: 38, followed by Sindh with 13 cases, 3 from KP, 2 from Islamabad and only 1 from Balochistan. Similarly, violence against women saw significant reporting in the media with a total of 49 cases. Highest (38) were reported in Punjab, 9 in Sindh, 2 in KPK, whereas no cases were reported in Balochistan and Islamabad.
Around 15 cases of domestic violence were reported in the province of Punjab which is highest among all provinces. 6 cases were reported in the province of Sindh, while KP, Islamabad reported 1, 1 respectively and no cases from Balochistan of domestic violence. This led to a combined 23 cases. A total of 22 women lost their lives in cases of honour killing. The provincial breakdown is as follows: Punjab (14), KP (5) and Sindh (3), whereas Balochistan and Islamabad both reported zero cases in the media.
The lowest prevalence in media reporting was of workplace harassment, where only 2 cases were reported in the country, both from Punjab. Amongst all indicators of violence against children, the highest prevalence was of Child Abuse, where a total of 43 cases were reported across the country, with Punjab leading with 22 cases reported, followed by 11 in KP and 7 in Sindh. The lowest frequencies were reported in Islamabad (3).
