Pakistan: Every two hours a woman is raped, with only 0.2% of cases leading to convictions
According to a recent survey, a woman is raped in Pakistan every two hours, underscoring the dangerous conditions for women in a nation where incidences of honor killing are also common.
The investigation, which was carried out by Pakistani channel SAMAA TV’s Investigation Unit (SIU) based on information gathered from the home department and ministry of human rights in the Punjab province, also discovered that although the number of rape crimes increased, the conviction rate remained at a dismal 0.2%.
“According to recently gathered and processed data, the number of recorded rapes of women in the country between 2017 and 2021 reached 21,900.” This meant that almost 12 women per day, or one every two hours, were raped throughout the country, the survey claimed.
The surveyors believe that these reported cases may only be the tip of the iceberg because women are reluctant to disclose incidents to the police due to societal stigma and worry about retaliatory violence.
According to the data, there were 3,327 documented rape cases in 2017. According to the research, this increased to 4,456 instances in 2018, 4,573 cases in 2019, dropped to 4,478 cases in 2020, and then increased to 5,169 cases in 2021.
Prior media sources claimed that from May 2022 to August 2022, Punjab saw about 350 recorded rape cases, although there was no evidence available to support this claim.
Up to 1,301 cases of sexual assault against women were tried in 44 Pakistani courts in 2022. In 2,856 incidents, the police have laid criminal charges. However, according to the research, only 4% of the cases proceeded to trial.
The research noted that during this time, the conviction rate for rape cases remained at an appalling 0.2%.
Pakistan was ranked first among the 75 nations having a bias against women in the courts by the United Nations Development Programme in 2020.
Pakistan was ranked 145th out of 146 countries in a World Economic Forum report published in July of this year, making it the second-worst country in terms of gender parity. Afghanistan was the only country that performed worse than Pakistan.
Pakistan, which ranks 145th, has 107 million women in its population and closed 56.4% of the gender gap that affects them in 2022.
Since the publication of the WEF report, Pakistan has recorded its greatest overall parity level to date.
International organisations, such as the United Nations, have also pushed Pakistan to act against the country’s increasing number of honour killings.
A study by The Express Tribune stated that 1,957 instances of honour killings were documented over the course of the previous four years, according to data from the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
According to research, “15 per million women are victims of honour killings on average each year among women aged 15 to 64. ” This could be yet another shady global differentiation.
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