Domestic Violence against Women: In Human Rights Perspective (A Case Study of Punjab)

Abstract

The stigmatic predicament of domestic violence against women (DVAW) is quite common in Pakistan. The knowledge generation and technological advancements have by and large degenerative with respect to DVAW; since the negative forces and stratagems are overwhelmingly dominating the preventive and the preemptive strategies and enactments. Pakistan is no exception, the issue is embracing, most tiers of the society like an octopus, though the degree and outlook could vary from culture to culture. Here, in termsof trend projection, around 30 % to 40 % of victims lament some sort of violence against them. With this conceptual understanding in mind, the present study was undertaken; and six districts of the province of Punjab (Pakistan) were selected. The quantitative and qualitative data were collected through the instruments of the questionnaire, FGDs, and Expert Interviews. The Chi-square test was also applied to determine the significance of relationships between various variables. Consolidating the findings of all the survey instruments, one must ascertain that the issue of DVAW in Pakistan is heinous and needs serious redress at multiple levels especially the government, community, NGOs and the media. The victims are generally suffered at the hands of social,economic and legislatory setback. These setbacks could be phrased in terms of lack of education, poor economic standing and Pakistani male-chauvinism where the cushion being the hollow legislation and ceremonial implementation thereof. As the saying goes,„tries die from the top‟, the provincial government needs to play its due role and come forward with a „bold legislation‟ and a „blind implementation‟that can bull-doze any force that can potentially emerge as manipulative rather exploitative; and the remaining machinery of the country would naturally dog after it; where the principal components of the machinery include the local governments, NGOs and the media. If not, the central government would be an accomplice to the forces and entities that practically render and declare, „frailty thy name‟s woman.‟ (Shakespeare)