Pakistan reports alarming increase in sexual assault cases
Jun 19, 2022
Lahore [Pakistan], June 19 : The capital province of Pakistan, Lahore reported a large number of cases of sexual assault in the previous week. The alarming frequency of the cases prompted the Pakistan police to review the overall performance of the Gender-Based Violence Cell, a local media reported.
In a recent case, a pregnant woman was recently gang-raped by five men in the Punjab province. In another such case, a 25-year-old Karachi woman was gang-raped by three men on a moving train. Such incidents put the spotlight on Pakistan's poor record with women's rights.
Capital City Police Officer Lahore (CCPO) DIG Bilal Siddique Kamyana chaired a meeting at City Police headquarters to review the overall performance of the Gender-Based Violence Cell and directed the cell officers to improve their performance, the Express Tribune reported.
DIG Kamyana also warned them of strict actions to be taken if no significant improvement was observed.
He directed the officers to complete investigating gang-rape cases immediately and said that incidents of rape, harassment, violence and abuse against women are a disgrace to society and unacceptable, the Express Tribune reported.
A recent research report by the Sustainable Social Development Organisation (SSDO) and the Centre for Research, Development, and Communication (CRDC) stated Pakistan reported a maximum number of cases of women assault in the previous month. It included cases of kidnapping of women, rape, and violence against women.
As per the report, a total of 57 cases of rape were reported in the media out of which Punjab reported the highest of 38 cases, while Sindh reported 13 cases followed by 3 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 2 cases from Islamabad.
Meanwhile, it was earlier reported that Pakistan's Global Gender Gap Index has worsened over time. In 2017, Pakistan ranked 143, slipping to 148 in 2018.
According to the last year's 'Global Gender Gap Report 2021', Pakistan ranked 153 out of 156 countries on the gender parity index, that is, among the last four.
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP)'s recent report said that in Pakistan, at least 11 rape cases are reported daily with over 22,000 such incidents reported to police in the last six years (2015-21).
