Domestic Violence Against Women in Pakistan

The United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (1993) defines violence against women as "any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life." (UN General Assembly 1993).

It is violence in private life that comprises domestic violence against women. Also called Intimate Partner Abuse and Family Violence, it is a global issue that cuts across all geographic, social, cultural and ethnic boundaries. But it was only in the last decade of the 20th century that it received recognition as a serious public health and human rights issue.

This paper aims to discuss domestic violence against women in Pakistan. It will focus on some specific types of domestic violence prevalent in Pakistan, the factors underlying them and a health and human rights analysis of the issue.

For the purpose of this paper, the term Domestic Violence is used as described in Innocenti Digest ( UNICEF, 2000) to include violence against women by an intimate partner and by other family members, whether this violence takes place within or outside the home.

BACKGROUND

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the sixth most populated country in the world, is in South Asia. Its people and traditions reflect many diverse cultures. It is administratively divided into, four provinces: Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and Baluchistan, the federal capital Islamabad and seven Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

Pakistan was the first Muslim country to have a woman Prime Minister and presently women hold 21% seats in the Natio...

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