Punjab records 73 percent ‘women kidnapping’ cases of the country
Islamabad: A total of 131 cases of women kidnapping were reported across the country in the month of May. Out of these cases, 96 which makes 73 percent of the total cases were reported from Punjab, revealed a report issued by the Sustainable Social Development Organization (SSDO) and the Centre for Research, Development and Communication (CRDC).
Looking at other provinces, Sindh reported 23 cases, followed by 11 from KP and 1 from Islamabad while no cases of kidnapping were reported from Balochistan.
Rape of women was the second most reported in the media, where a total of 57 cases were written about. The province of Punjab again reported the highest number of cases of rape: 38, followed by Sindh with 13 cases, 3 from KP, 2 from Islamabad and only 1 from Balochistan.
Similarly, violence against women saw significant reporting in the media with a total of 49 cases. Highest (38) were reported in Punjab, 9 in Sindh, 2 in KPK, whereas no cases were reported in Balochistan and Islamabad.
15 cases of domestic violence were reported in the province of Punjab which is highest among all provinces. 6 cases were reported in the province of Sindh, while KP, Islamabad reported 1, 1 respectively and no cases from Balochistan of domestic violence. This led to a combined 23 cases.
A total of 22 women lost their lives in cases of honour killing. The provincial breakdown is as follows: Punjab (14), KP (5) and Sindh (3), whereas Balochistan and Islamabad both reported zero cases in the media.
The lowest prevalence in media reporting was of workplace harassment, where only 2 cases were reported in the country, both from Punjab.
Amongst all indicators of violence against children, the highest prevalence was of Child Abuse, where a total of 43 cases were reported across the country, with Punjab leading with 22 cases reported, followed by 11 in KP and 7 in Sindh.
The lowest frequencies were reported in Islamabad (3). Interestingly, for the other two indicators, Child Labour and Child Marriage, zero cases were reported all over Pakistan. However, this simply means that zero cases of child labour and marriage were reported in the media. This does not mean that no such cases took place.
Syed Kausar Abbas, Executive Director, SSDO stated, “The aim of regularly publishing this data is to bring attention to the rapid increase in violence against women and children. Just this month, over 300 different cases of this nature occurred. We hope that with increased media attention and reporting, the government, police and judiciary dedicate their attention to speedy processing, resolution and punishment.”
SSDO and CRDC conducted daily tracking of several mainstream newspapers against nine indicators of violence against women and children. The selection criteria of the newspapers was based on being the most famous, accessible and most-read newspapers in Pakistan. This data is published every month on SSDO’s official website, while both organisations also publish a consolidated report annually.
