By Sanan Hassan Lashari
The eighth anniversary of the Aurat March is being celebrated in Pakistan. Let’s talk about the reason for this Aurat March. This movement’s primary goals are to protect women from domestic abuse and to provide them equal access to economic and political representation. However, the culture of rape is equally concerning; violence against women is not limited to beatings and torture. The number of rape cases in Pakistan has increased within the past five years. These rape instances are the sobering proof why Pakistan needs the Aurat March. Let’s talk about how rape culture has gotten worse over the past five years.
All men in Pakistan are the enemy of women, and the systemic rape culture in our country is perpetuated by our socioeconomic culture. Nearly 2297 incidents of violence against women have been reported. Of the 2297 occurrences, about 57% are recorded in Pakistan, with Sindh ranking second in terms of violence against women. Even while these facts are alarming, 2022 was a more catastrophic year. This number increased to 63637 after two years. The Ministry of Human Rights representatives report that during the previous three years, 63,367 incidents of violence against women were reported nationwide. The Ministry of Human Rights’ representatives report that during the last three years, 63,367 incidents of violence against women were reported nationwide. Information from the National Police Bureau indicates that 11,160 rape and gang rape cases were reported nationwide over the previous three years. There were 4,637 rape/gang rape cases reported in 2019, 4,133 in 2020, and 2,390 in 2021. In a similar vein, 840 women were murdered in 2021, 1,578 in 2019, and 1,569 in 2020.
In the same way, 391 murder cases were recorded in 2019, 397 in 2020, and 237 more in 2021. However, between 2019 and 2021, 103 occurrences of acid-throwing were reported to the police, and 77 cases of incest were reported over the previous three years. Despite this, advocates for women’s rights are out there fighting against the culture of rape and abuse. However, according to the most recent gender gap study, which was released in 2024, 90 percent of women worldwide encounter violence at some point in their lives, and about 30 percent of women in Pakistan are victims of it.
These findings demonstrated that there has been an upsurge in violence and that the state has not done enough to stop it. Let’s investigate the causes of this sickness. First, the main cause is patriarchy. Given that Pakistani society frequently upholds men’s authority over women, Second, misinterpretations of culture and religion are mostly employed to restrict women’s rights. Finally, the court system’s corruption and insufficient legislation have made violence against women the norm. There is little to celebrate even after eight years of the Aurat March, and the road to women’s equality and freedom remains a long one.
