WUNRN
Aurat Foundation - Full Article:
Pakistan Political Parties Stress Urgent Need for National Policy on
Ending Violence Against Women and Girls
30-04-2014
- Senior
representatives of major political parties and parliamentarians, civil society
organizations and officials of Ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights have
agreed at a policy dialogue, that country urgently needs a comprehensive
national policy on ending violence against women and girls from society
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Direct Link to Full 170-Page 2012
Aurat Foundation Study:
Gender Differences:
Understanding Perceptions - National Baseline Study
Between 2010 and 2012, six progressive laws supporting
women’s empowerment were passed. These included the Anti Sexual Harassment Act,
National Commission on Status of Women Act, and the Domestic Violence Bill. And
during this time, the Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace
was implemented which brought around 2000 Government and private organizations
to comply with the law, according to a National Commission on the Status of
Women Report (2010 –2012).
But the gap between theory
and practice continues to widen – between legislation and implementation, urban
and rural disparity, and the reality of the average woman is in stark contrast
to the progress being made in the political process, in laws passed, and at
policy level. The reasons underlying the gap are a lack of awareness of
fundamental rights, limited access to justice, illiteracy, poverty, prevailing
patriarchal attitudes, archaic traditions and customs, and little knowledge of
women’s rights among the general population. It is in this context that the
Gender Equity Program (GEP) is being implemented.
An earlier study on Gender-Based
violence in Pakistan concluded that “Gender-based violence is a living reality
in present day Pakistan. Though these crimes are prevalent around the world, in
Pakistan they are uniquely legitimized in the name of culture, tradition,
religion, and morality”. A module of domestic and gender-based violence was
introduced in the quantitative survey to obtain perception as well as incidence
of domestic and gender-based violence. The worst gender based violance takes
the form of honor killing, acid throwing, physically and sexually abusing women
and sexual harassment.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface
Acknowledgments ii
Table of Contents iii
Project Team iv
List of Charts v
List of Tables vi
Acronyms vii
Executive Summary xi
Section A: Introduction 1
1.0 Preamble 1
2.0 Study Framework 2
2.1 State of Women in
Pakistan 2
2.2 Scope of Work for This
Study 4
3.0 A Profile of Respondents
6
Section B: Study Findings 9
4.0 Human Rights and Justice
9
4.1 Women’s Equal Rights 9
4.2 Democratic Rights 19
4.3 Inheritance Rights 22
4.4 Institutions of Justice
24
4.5 Case Studies: Women
Rights and Justice 30
5.0 Women's Empowerment 34
5.1 Women’s Empowerment and
Decision Making 34
5.2 Women’s Mobility 38
5.3 Case Studies: Women’s
Empowerment 40
6.0 Gender-Based Violence 43
6.1 Domestic Violence 44
6.2 Gender Based Violence 48
6.3 Reporting of GBV Cases 52
6.4 Case Studies: Gender
Based Violence 54
7.0 Information on the Media
60
7.1 Electronic Media 60
7.2 Print Media 61
8.0 Conclusions 62
Section C: Research
Methodology 65
9.0 Quantitative &
Qualitative Research Methodology 65
9.1 Quantitative Survey 65
9.2 Qualitative Research
Techniques 69
Annex; Statistical Tables 75
_____________________________________________________
Chart# Chart Name Pg #
Chart – 4.1.1 Equal Rights
and Opportunities 10
Chart – 4.1.2 Women Right to
Marry of their own Choice 11
Chart – 4.1.3 Practices
Prevalent in Household on the Right to marry with own choice 12
Chart – 4.1.4 Women’s right
to demand divorce 13
Chart – 4.1.5 Right to decide
“Haq-e-Meher” 14
Chart – 4.1.6 ‘Sharia’ right
to ‘Khula’ 15
Chart – 4.1.7 Dowry 15
Chart – 4.1.8 Girls
participation in Regional, National and International Sports 16
Chart – 4.1.9 Women as Heads
of State 17
Chart – 4.1.10 Women as Heads
of Organization 17
Chart – 4.1.11 Women as Heads
of Household 18
Chart – 4.2.1 Participation
in Political Activities 20
Chart – 4.2.2 Right to cast
votes 21
Chart – 4.2.3 Practices on
casting votes 21
Chart – 4.2.4 Computerized
National Identity Card (CNIC) for Women 22
Chart – 4.3.1 Awareness:
Women’s share in inheritance 22
Chart – 4.3.2 Perceptions:
Women’s share in inheritance 23
Chart – 4.3.3 Practices:
Women’s share in inheritance 23
Chart – 4.4.1 Seeking justice
from institutions outside the home 25
Chart – 4.4.2 Practices:
Seeking justice from institutions outside the home 25
Chart – 4.4.3 Perceptions:
Women’s visit to Police Station 26
Chart – 4.4.4 Practices:
Women visit to Police Station 26
Chart – 4.4.5 Practices:
Women visit to Courts 27
Chart – 4.4.6 Perceptions:
Women visit to Courts 28
Chart – 5.1.1 Perceptions:
Women’s work for livelihood 34
Chart – 5.1.2 Women Allowed
to for a livelihood 35
Chart – 5.1.3 Practices:
Women’s work for a livelihood 35
Chart – 5.1.4 Financial
Decisions Making 36
Chart – 5.1.5 Women’s Bank
Account 37
Chart – 5.1.6 Personal Formal
Borrowings by Women 37
Chart – 5.1.7 Women’s
Empowerment in Household Decision-Making – Average Score 39
Chart – 6.1.1 Perceptions
about Domestic Violence 44
Chart – 6.1.2 Prevalent
Domestic Violence 45
Chart – 6.1.3 Mental Violence
Within Households 45
Chart – 6.1.4 Physical
Violence within Household 46
Chart – 6.1.5 Physical
Violence by Outsiders / Strangers 46
Chart – 6.2.1 Perception
about Honor Killings 50
Chart – 6.2.2 Wanni 50
Chart – 6.2.3 Sexual Abuse 51
Chart – 6.2.4 Punishment for
Sexual or Physical Abuses 52
Table # Table Name Pg #
Table – 3.1 Demographic
Characteristics of Respondents by Province 6
Table – 3.2 Socioeconomic
Characteristics of Respondents by Gender 7
Table – 3.3 Media habits of
Respondents by Gender 8
Table – 4.1.1 Perception
About Women’s Rights 9
Table – 4.1.11a Should Women
be the Head of State, Organization or Household 18
Table - 4.3.4a Household
Property and Asset Ownership? 24
Table - 4.4.1a Ranking of
Institutions of Justice: Female Respondents 28
Table - 4.4.2b Ranking of
Institutions of Justice: Male Respondents 29
Table - 4.4.3 Facilities
Available in Public Institutions 29
Table – 5.1.1 Women’s
Empowerment in terms of Decisions Making 38
Table - 5.2.1a Women’s
Mobility [Female Respondents] 39
Table - 5.2.1b Women’s
Mobility [Male Respondents] 40
Table - 6.1 Perpetrators in
case of Physical Violence 48
Table - 6.2 Perpetrators of
Mental Violence 48
Table – 6.2.1 Types of Gender
Based Violence 49
Table – 6.2.2 Punishment for
illegal/illicit Relationships 53
Table – 9.1 Districts Covered
in Quantitative Survey 66
Table – 9.2 Realized Sample
for Quantitative Survey 68
Table – 9.3 Un-weighted and
Weighted Sample 68
Table – 9.4 Focus Group
Discussions