Pakistan's Punjab province announces ‘emergency’ over rising rape cases

Pakistan’s Punjab province has declared an ‘emergency’ over rising cases of rape and sexual violence against women and children. Pakistani media reported about the emergency on Monday (June 20). Punjab Home Minister Atta Tarar had said that the administration is being forced to take the drastic step to deal with rising rape cases. 

"Four to five cases of rape are being reported daily in Punjab due to which the government is considering special measures to deal with cases of sexual harassment, abuse and coercion,” the Dawn newspaper reported quoting a minister. 

An emergency usually means that the police and the army are given more power to get a civic issue under control. The Punjab Home Minister has said that all cases will be reviewed by Cabinet Committee on Rape and Law and Order. The minister also promised to implement a system within two weeks to reduce such incidents. 

TRIGGER WARNING

How bad is the situation? Several ghastly rape cases have been making headlines in Pakistan, especially being reported from its Punjab province. Just earlier this month, the gang-rape of a 25-year-old woman on a moving train sent shockwaves throughout the nation, sparking protests and anger. 

In a recent incident, a pregnant woman was gang-raped by 5 men in Pakistan’s Punjab. The accused broke into the house of the woman, tied up her husband and raped the woman. 

In another case, a minor girl was gang-raped by robbers in front of her father and other family members, at gunpoint. The four family members including the victim were heading home on a motorcycle when a group of robbers intercepted them, kidnapped them at gunpoint, took them to an isolated place, tied up the family members, and raped the girl. 

In one of the most high-profile cases of violence against women, a former Pakistan diplomat’s daughter Noor Mukadam was tortured, raped and beheaded by man named Zahir Jaffer in an upscale neighbourhood in Islamabad for refusing his marriage proposal. Jaffer belonged to an influential family in Pakistan. 

What do the stats say? 

• A report by the Sustainable Social Development Organisation (SSDO) and the Centre for Research, Development, and Communication (CRDC) reported that violence against women including kidnapping and rape were the most reported crimes in Pakistan in the month of May 2022. Of the 131 kidnapping cases of women, 96 were reported from Punjab province. And of the 57 rape cases reported in the media, 38 were reported in Punjab. 
• In the last 6 months of 2021, 2,439 women were raped in Pakistan’s Punjab province alone, according to Punjab Information Commission. 90 women were killed in the name of honour within this time period. 
• At least 11 cases of rape are reported every day in Pakistan, according to the Human Rights Commission. However, the conviction rate for criminals is less than 1%. 
• Of the 22,000 rape cases reported in the last 6 years (2015-21), only the accused in 77 cases were convicted. 

Comparatively, the population of Punjab province is about 110 million. 

Pakistan’s tryst with gender-based violence is nothing new. Punjab is also infamous for its heightened violence against women. Pakistan has a poor track record on women’s rights, ranking among the last four in the world gender parity index in 2021 at 153 out of 156 countries. 

In response to rising violence against women, Pakistan has made fast-track court procedures for such cases and also brought in a new anti-rape law last year, which allows for chemical castration of the convicted. 

Pakistan is not the only country that has evoked an emergency over rising rape cases. In 2019, Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa, similarly used emergency to bring the cases of rampant violence against women under control.