By Asim Shahzad
LAHORE: Sustainable Social Development Organization (SSDO) and the Centre for Research, Development and Communication (CRDC) jointly released a report that the kidnapping of women, physical assault, rape and domestic violence against women were the most reported cases in the month of June 2022 in the mainstream media.
Women Kidnapping cases in Pakistan were the most heavily reported in the media, with a total of 157 of cases. 108 of these cases were reported only from the province of Punjab.
Looking at other provinces, Sindh reported 22 cases, followed by 06 from KP, 04 in Balochistan and 17 from Islamabad.112 Cases of physical assault against women were reported in media all over Pakistan. Highest (66) were reported in Punjab, 27 in Sindh, 11 in KPK, 8 in Islamabad, whereas no cases were reported in Balochistan.
There is significant increase in cases of domestic violence were reported June (100). 68 in the province of Punjab which is highest among all provinces. 17 cases were reported in the province of Sindh, 13 in KP, Islamabad reported 2, and again no cases from Balochistan of domestic violence. Rape of women also saw increased in numbers, overall 91 reported in the media.
The province of Punjab again reported the highest number of cases of rape: 53, followed by Sindh with 14 cases, 16 from KP, 6 from Islamabad and only 2 from Balochistan.
The lowest prevalence in media reporting was of workplace harassment and honor killing, 7, 7 cases were reported in the country for the both indicators.
Amongst all indicators of violence against children, the highest prevalence was of Child Abuse, where a total of 93 cases were reported across the country, with Punjab leading with 36 cases reported, followed by 28 in KP and 18 in Sindh.
The lowest frequencies were reported in Islamabad (6) and Balochistan (5). 64 children kidnapped and 37 were physically assaulted across Pakistan. In the previous month there were no of Child Labour and Child Marriage reported but in June, there were 5 and 7 cases respectively.
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.
The number of cases increased in this month as compare to the previous month. 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 organizations also publish a consolidated report annually.
