VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN
PAKISTAN 2009
A QUALITATIVE REVIEW OF
STATISTICS BY AURAT
FOUNDATION WITH THE SUPPORT
OF TROCAIRE (INGO)
By Dr.Rakhshinda Perveen
Founder /CEO
creative anger by rakhshi
www.creativeangerbyrakhshi.com
The evening of the city of
friends by Faiz-sham-e-shihr-eyaran
If my suffering found a tongue
Mere dard ko jo zuban mile






 Mira dard hai naghma-e-be-


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
My suffering is a song unsung
my soul a speck without a seal
If my suffering found a tongue
My name and sign it would reveal.
If of my soul I found the sign
I would perceive the worlds
design,
If this secret were in m y reach
My silence would acquire speech,
Sway over all created things
And the empire of both worlds be
mine.





sada
Miri zaat zarra be-nishan
Mire dard ko jo zuban
mile]mire zaat ka jo nishan
mile]mujhay raze-nazm-ejahan mile
Miri khamoshi ko bayan mile
Mujhe kainaat ki sarvari
Mujhay daulat-e-do jahan
mile
It gives us(Aurat foundation) no pleasure to present this
qualitative review
of statistics for Violence Against Women in Pakistan
during 2009.
The reported statistics are nothing but a true copy, only
larger in size, of the earlier two reports in this series,
prepared under our national programme of
“Policy and Data Monitor on VAW”.
Special thanks to friends,colleagues ,activists in the
government and civil society
a very special thanks to Naeem Mirza, Rabea Hadi
and staff members from provincial offices of Aurat
foundation
This national study is a compilation of the four
regional reports put together by our four
provincial offices. All five offices of the Aurat
Foundation collected the statistics on VAW in
Pakistan during the 2009 calendar year from
January to December. Not only all the four
provinces
–
Punjab,
Sindh,
KhyberPakhtunkhawa and Balochistan– were covered
but data was collected for Islamabad Capital
Territory (ICT) as well.
Structure & format
 Beginning- context
 Body- facts & figures
 End- conclusions? Challenges? Way forward
2009 has been another tragic year for
women rights in Pakistan.
Many cases have
been reported, in
which women were
abducted,
assaulted, raped,
murdered, forced to
marriage or traded
to resolve disputes.
a total of
8,548
incidents of violence
against women were
reported.
Life is a stage and we all are actors
And Men are Perpetrators-in their role-always? Frequently?
Regularly?
Reported cases= tip of the iceberg
Reality is still veiled in the name of
honour,cultuure,religion,laws or absence of
laws…………………………
Speaking numbers? –Silent
numbers?
Pakistan
ANNUAL REPORTED CASES
 Punjab
 5722 cases
 Sindh
 Baluchistan
 Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa
(KP)
 Islamabad Capital
 Territory(ICT)
 1762 cases
 only 237 cases
surfaced
 only 655 cases were
reported
 172
Violence against women during
or after armed conflicts
KP & Balochistan
Khyber Pakhtunkhawa
 Both these provinces have

a tradition of forced
marriages, ‘honour’ killing
and a high cultural
premium placed on
securing vendettas. The
tradition of exchange
marriages in Balochistan
and bridal selling in KP are
well known.
Over and above this context, Khyber
Pakhtunkhawa saw the biggest
internal migration in the history of
Pakistan in May 2009
when some 2.5 million people were
forced to flee for their life from
Swat, Dir . and Buner when a
military operation against
extremists got under way.
 ,these Internally Displaced Persons
(IDPs) lived in camps and host
communities for nearly three
months.
 Hence the observation that VAW
remains grossly under reported in
Pakistan.
Data shows
“murder” and “'honour' killing” of women to be the
most prevalent form of VAW in Pakistan.
•Abductions and kidnappings of women are also
rampant.
Rape and gang-rape has also registered an upward
trend.
•Domestic violence remains a serious and widespread
problem.
Only 50 cases of stove burning forming 0.58% of the
total reported cases in 2009 indicate a reduction of 18%
percent of the preceding year.
However, acid throwing has increased substantially
Na savale vasl na arzay gham na hikaiitain na shikaitain
Tirey ehad mein dile zar k sabhi ikhtiaar chalay gaiyee
Categories/forms of VAW
YEAR 2008
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ABDUCTION-1784
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MURDER-1422
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DOMESTIC VIOLENCE-281

SUICIDE-599
“HONOUR” KILLING-475 

RAPE/GANG RAPE.778

SEXUALASSAULT-172

ACID THROWING-29
BURNING/STOVE.61

MSC-1,970

 NET=
7,571
YEAR 2009
ABDUCTION-1987
MURDER-1384
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE-608
SUICIDE-683
“HONOUR” KILLING-604
RAPE/GANG RAPE-928
SEXUALASSAULT-274
ACID THROWING-53
BURNING/STOVE-50
MSC-1977
 NET=8548
TOP 15 DISTRICTS-VAW
DISTRICT
DISTRICT
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
LAHORE
FAISALABAD
SARGODHA
RAWALPINDI
PESHAWAR
GUJRANWALA
SHEIKHIPURA
SUKKUR
MULTAN
10.KASUR
11.JACOBABAD
12.LARKANA
13.ISLAMABAD
14.VEHARI
15.TOBATEKSINGH
Breakdown of VAW cases
Punjab
 1698= abduction
 1220=msc
 786=rape….
 752=murder
 448=suicide
 271=Domestic violence(DV)
 245= ghairat/honour killings
 227=sexual assault
 42=acid throwing
 33=stove burning
Sindh
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535=msc
228=murder
284= ghairat/honour killings
176=suicide
160= = abduction
134=DV
122=rape
44=227=sexual assault
10=stove burning
09=acid throwing
Breakdown of VAW cases
KP
Baluchistan
 88=msc.
 266=Murder
 59= = ghairat/honour killings
 163=dv
 39=murder
 93=msc
 22=dv
 43=suicide
 13=abduction
 10=suicide
 04=rape
 01=sexual assault
 01=stove burning
 07=rape
 04=stove burning
 01=acid throwing
CAUSES
 ??????????????????????????????
???????????????????????????????????
?????????????????????????????????
Silence on violence
 Policy inaction
 Under reporting
 Elite consensus
????????????????????????????????
Age wise distribution
 In the total number of 8,548 cases of VAW were
recorded from all over Pakistan, the number of
victims or survivors was reported to be 9,743 in
2009. However, there was no information
available about the age of some 6,336 victims in
the reported cases of VAW. An analysis of the
data available showed that of these, 1,663
women victims fell in the age group up t1,123
women were in the between 19 to 36 o 18
years. Another years age group. The remaining
621 women were all 37 years or above in age.
FIR Status of cases of VAW
 According to compiled data, FIRs
were registered only in 113 cases
reported by the media. No FIRs
were registered against 63
reported cases and as many as 61
cases had no on their FIR status
during 2009.
The case of Baluchistan
FIR Status of cases of VAW
 Although some 8548 cases of VAW were reported
from all over Pakistan, yet only 5996 cases were
formally registered with the police. Formal
registration entails a “First Information Report” or
FIR that forms the basis for prosecution. This
number has been computed based upon media
reports excluding cases where registration of FIR
was not reported. These reports or ‘crime stories’
appearing in the newspapers informed that 1154
cases out of the total 8548 were not registered with
the police.
 No evidence was found in media coverage on the
FIR status of the remaining 1398 cases.
Marital Status of
Victims/Survivors
 The 8548 cases reported from all over
Pakistan recorded crimes against 9743
victims. There was no information given on
the marital status of 1471 victims of reported
VAW crimes in Pakistan during 2009.
 Excluding these, 4,215 victim women were
married and 3,868 were unmarried. Some 145
women were widows while 44 were
divorcees
Change
victim
is the way forward
survivor
For Women and girls violence must not be a
norm
Strive for a society where VAW/Girls is not
endemic
Not socially and morally endorsed
And ignored legally
Way forward
Dreams are not negotiable(Paulo Coehlo)
Dream of a society
where people (women
and men) are
recognized because of
their strengths and not
because of their power,
physical attributes or
class.
Alas! It`s not an ideal
world but there is no
harm & loss in striving
for a society
characterized by gender
harmony.