SHAFAQNA PAKISTAN (Shia News Agency)
Rape is rapidly increasing Pakistan. Pakistan society so obsessed with religion and purity, but with children lying at death’s door. No school, mosque or madressah educates against child sexual abuse, discusses self-defense or gives out any advice or sex education. The most unsafe are the streets as portrayed by a documentary released last year focusing on the street children of Peshawar where 9 out of 10 children are victims of paedophilia.
In 2010, the Federal Shariat Court declared that the provisions of the Women’s Protection Act of 2006, which prevented rape victims from being prosecuted for adultery or fornication under the Zina and Hudood Act of 1979, were unconstitutional. Parliament tried to pass new provisions but it never did. Thus if a rape report is filed and the requisite four adult male witnesses are not provided, the complaint can still be converted to one under the Zina and Hudood Ordinance. According to recent figures released by Punjab Police, about 1,651 rape cases were registered in Punjab alone in the first half of 2014, with challans issued for 990, which led to zero convictions.
It is clear the both law and law enforcement agencies are toothless. Thus media and civil society need to act to raise awareness against this heinous crime..
pakistan.shafaqna.com
