Women rights
In Pakistan, violence against women and girls, such as rape, murder, acid assaults, domestic abuse, and forced marriage, continues to be a major issue. Over 1,000 women are reportedly killed in so-called honour killings annually, according to human rights advocates. Domestic abuse incidents soared by 200 percent in Pakistan between January and March 2020, according to data from domestic violence hotlines there, and they got worse after March during the Covid-19 lockdowns. As the Lahore Police Commissioner publicly stated that a lady who had been gang-raped on a motorway in Punjab was at fault because she shouldn’t have been driving “without her husband’s consent” on a road late at night, there were widespread protests in September calling for police reform.
An August assessment from the Human Rights Ministry revealed that women prisoners’ living and medical circumstances are subpar. The research claims that officials habitually disregarded regulations intended to protect female detainees and that Pakistan’s jail legislation did not adhere to international norms. The study also discovered that kids who visit their moms behind bars are at higher risk for malnutrition and illiteracy.
n Pakistan, child marriage is still a major issue; 3 percent of girls and 21 percent of women, respectively, get married before they turn 18 years old. Forced marriage continues to be a problem that disproportionately affects women in religious minority societies. Little has been done by the government to prevent these forced unions.