Violence against women is a profound violation of human rights that exists around the world each and every day. Globally, physical or sexual violence is endured by one out of three women, often by their significant others.
An chronic social and public health issue is domestic violence in Pakistan. It is estimated that somewhere in the range of 10 and 20 percent of women in Pakistan have experienced some form of violence, as indicated by a study completed in 2009 by Human Rights Watch. Every year, an expected 5,000 women are killed by violent behaviour at home, with many others wounded or handicapped.
Domestic violence also leads to an increased danger of mental health conditions such as severe depression, dysthymia and substance addiction. In addition, since women are important caregivers in Pakistan, children also face a widespread risk of depression. In their study, Zakar et al. found that of those interviewed (373 women from Pakistani emergency clinics), including women who had witnessed extreme abusive behaviour at home, 54% indicated impaired current mental health.
Poverty, patriarchalism, child marriage, and increased urbanisation are several variables that lead to domestic violence. Ignorance and social stigma towards domestic violence are linked with poverty.
The lack of education for monetary reasons is followed by a lack of knowledge of women’s rights. In addition, given the fact that denial of mental health is especially common in low-income communities, many women do not obtain adequate care for the after-effects of domestic abuse.
Secondly, in Pakistani culture, another reason given for abuses is patriarchalism, which marginalises the role of women. A man is considered to reserve the right to beat his partner genuinely on his wish in certain conventional societies.
Fatima Ansari, 45, a victim of domestic abuse stated: ‘I suffered physical abuse for good twenty years in front of my children and relatives but no one was there to help me.’
In the 2012-2013 Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey, a correlation between the intergenerational transition of spousal violence and cultural views on women was identified in the evaluation of data from 3,867 wedded or recently wedded women. Strikingly, 47% of these ladies believed that it was justified to beat a spouse if the spouse had disagreed with her husband.
‘My sister in law used to lecture me on how it’s okay for a husband to beat his wife and how she also gets beaten by her husband but it doesn’t matter for her because it’s the duty of women to compromise to make a relationship going,’said Fatima.
Statistics, for instance, show that patriarchalism has forced multiple Pakistani women within Pakistani society to believe that violent behaviour at home is natural or even sometimes advocated.
Finally, due to increased urbanisation, another reason given to the increase in domestic violence was. When people migrate from cities and increasingly live apart from a more distant family, attacks are less likely to be avoided by family members who have often mediated domestic disputes in past occasions.
Specifically, women who migrate from their particular family to urban areas or regions after marriage are more at risk of domestic violence. As the lonely connections they have are currently confined to the families of their husband or husbands, these ladies are left without parental or family assistance. The seclusion of the victim in question and a lack of social support propagate violent spousal relations.
After Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, a study done by the Thomson Reuters Foundation rated Pakistan as the third most dangerous nation in the world for women. The majority of victims do not have legal redress. Specialists of law authorisation do not see domestic violence as a crime and usually refuse to register any cases brought to them. With the nation’s few women’s shelters, victims have fewer places to flee from abusive circumstances.
Rimshwrites 