A sharp increase in incidents of violence against women has been witnessed, particularly sexual assault, in Sindh during the first four months of 2023.
Data collected by Sustainable Social Development Organization (SSDO) pointed to an alarming surge in the violence against women in Sindh. Over 900 cases of gender-based crimes were reported from January 1 to April 30, 2023.
The Sustainable Social Development Organization’s research indicates that a significant number of FIRs for violence against women and children were filed in Sindh. 771 incidents of violence against single women were reported to the police between January 1 and April 30, 2023, while 142 incidents involved children. Given the social climate in Pakistan, where people hardly ever disclose such crimes to the police, SSDO thinks that the true number of cases may actually be larger than the number of cases that are documented.
529 women were kidnapped in Sindh during those four months, which translates to an average of more than one lady being taken every day. This figure paints a very depressing picture of the state of women’s protection in the province. Following that, 119 cases involving domestic violence were recorded, which indicates that women are more at danger of abuse in both the public and private sectors. Throughout Sindh, 56 instances of rape and 37 instances of murder committed in the name of honour were also documented during this time. Karachi Central, Hyderabad and Kimadri districts emerged as hotspots of violent crimes against women, as out of total 771 cases, 63, 58 and 54 cases were reported from these three districts respectively.
There were 67 occurrences of child abuse, sexual abuse accounted for the majority of those, which is terrible. Additionally, in a short amount of time, 41 kids were abducted. Unfortunately, the Sindh Police also received reports of 16 incidents and 14 cases of child labour. Karachi South (21), Kimadi (16), and Karachi West (13) are the hotspot areas with the highest frequency of crimes against children out of a total of 142 occurrences of child abuse.
Seyed Kausar Abbas, Executive Director, SSDO, said, “The purpose of publishing SD data is to draw attention to the sharp increase in violence against women and children. During the first four months of this year, it is a period of such nature. More than 900 different cases have come out. We hope that with the media’s increasing attention and reporting, the government, the police and the judiciary will devote their attention to the action, solution and punishment of the criminals, in order to safeguard all citizens, especially women and children.”
