Crime Or Custom? Violence Against Women In Pakistan

WIN News, Wntr, 2000

The station chief of a busy Lahore police station told Human Rights Watch that rape did not exist in Pakistani society. He stated his belief that in practically all cases of alleged rape, women had consented to the act of intercourse and then lied to incriminate their male partners[ldots] The police also intervene, often at the behest of the accused, to try to force the concerned parties to reach a settlement without officially registering a complaint[ldots] Serious failings also exist in the government's collection and analysis of medicolegal evidence, which is a practical prerequisite for securing convictions in cases of sexual assault[ldots]

When medicolegal examinations are performed, they are frequently conducted in a haphazard manner and fail to secure meaningful evidence[ldots] In addition to shoddy examinations, chemical analysis of forensic samples collected from the examinees is commonly mishandled and produces unreliable results. The court system presents its own set of hurdles for women seeking redress. Magistrates and judges often have discriminatory and sexist assumptions about women that prejudice the few cases that do reach the courts[ldots] Judges allow defense counsel free rein to introduce inflammatory evidence and to attack the victim's character and prior sexual history even when this is patently irrelevant[ldots]

Pakistan is obliged by its ratification of international treaties to ensure respect for women's human rights and fundamental freedoms. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), to which Pakistan acceded in 1996, requires the government to take action to eliminate violence against women[ldots] Human Rights Watch found that rather than responding actively to violations of women's rights to life, to security of the person, and to be free of discrimination, the government has acted, through its police, medicolegal, prosecutorial, and judicial systems, to block access to redress and justice for women victims of violence.

RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE GOVERNMENT OF PAKISTAN:

Legislative and Regulatory Reform // Reform of Police Practice and Rules // The Medicolegal System //I mproved Prosecution Services // Victim Services // Recommendations to the United Nations // Recommendations to the World Bank and Other International Lending Institutions // Recommendations to the International Community

FROM THE CONCLUSION:

Despite the alarmingly high incidence of rape and domestic violence in Pakistan, the government appears to be uninterested in limiting impunity for these acts. According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan at least eight women are raped every twenty-four hours nationwide. Estimates of the number of women who experience domestic violence range from 70 to 95 percent - the government's own Commission of Inquiry for Women reported that it 'has been described as the most pervasive violation of human rights' in Pakistan[ldots] The dismissive official attitudes toward violence against women reflect institutionalized gender bias that pervades the state machinery, including the law enforcement apparatus[ldots]