Domestic Violence (DV) remains an enormous social problem In Pakistan. Generally, female domestic violence is considered a private family issue without any appropriate focus on assessment, intervention, and solutions in Pakistani society. Women have to bear violence and discrimination on a daily basis due to the misuse of social and cultural values in the Pakistani society.

Pakistan ranks as the sixth most dangerous country in the world for women, with cases of sexual crimes and domestic violence recording a rapid rise. Activists blame society’s patriarchal attitudes for the problem.

According to the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey

• 7% of women have experienced violence during pregnancy.
• 34% of ever-married women have experienced spousal physical, sexual, or emotional violence.
• The most common type of spousal violence is emotional violence (26%), followed by physical violence (23%).
• 26% of ever-married women have sustained injuries. Cuts and bruises are the most common types of injuries reported.
• 56% of affected women never sought any help or talked with anyone about resisting or stopping the violence.

There is legislation for domestic violence in Pakistan and it is enforced too but the conviction rate is very low. According to the recent report, in Punjab, registered cases of domestic violence are more than one-third of all criminal cases but the conviction rate is almost 2.5 person of all registered cases. Remember these registered cases are just the tip of the iceberg because most of cases go unreported.

Victim can go the police to file an FIR and even for protection. In Pakistan situation is not ideal but better from the past now police give protection and send the aggrieved person to the shelter home and take action against the offender. but it does not happen all the time because of the corrupt system and lack of resources. unfortunately, In Pakistan, most of women even don’t know about protection bill and don’t seek shelters from the government.

In case of fear of death and severe injuries an aggrieved person can apply for obtaining a protection order under section 9. If the Court is satisfied that any violence has been committed or is likely to be committed, the Court may pass a protection order in favour of the aggrieved person and direct the defendant:

In the province of Punjab, there is Women’s Toll-Free Helpline 1043 available 24/7. Managed and supervised by PCSW. In the province of Sindh, women helpline 1094 is working to do the same. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa a toll-free helpline ‘Bolo’ (Speak out) 0800-22227 is working for women of confronting any distressing situation or condition. Ministry of Human Rights has a help line: 1099 to assist women about the religious and legal protection and right to inheritance.

Social Welfare Department established Dar-ul-Aman in all 36 districts of Punjab to give shelter to the women victims of violence. These homes can accommodate 20 to 50 residents at a time.

Social welfare department is running Dar-ul-Aman in other provinces too but they are less in numbers. Even in Baluchistan The Dar-ul-Aman facility is available only in Quetta.

In Sindh a non-profit organization Panah is also running a project called “Panah Shelter Home” located in Karachi.

In the province of Punjab “The Punjab Commission on the Status of Women” is running a project Transitional Housing for Women. It is envisioned as a residency program that includes support services and is designed as a bridge to self-sufficiency. The objective of setting up Transitional housing for women victims of violence across Punjab is to provide survivors of violence with safe and secure housing so that they are not forced to live in other substandard/unsafe conditions or return to their abusers.

Individual and community level strategies for change must be complemented by initiatives directed at reforming the institutions that shape people’s lives and affect women’s and girls’ vulnerability to violence and their ability to access needed services.

Women’s movements throughout the world continue to exert pressure for policy change, but programming with men on Gender Based Violence (GBV) prevention has rarely focused on advocating for policy development on such violence. Mobilizing men on issues of GBV and gender equality can make them actively involved in policy advocacy and campaigning.

We must identify and nurture internal champions to facilitate Institutional reforms. initiatives and mainstream gender training can provide the necessary leadership to initiate and sustain institutional reforms. We need to invest sufficient time and resources to train and then mentor the people who can further influence others to bring policies that can reduce the Violence against women and girls. Reforming the policies and ‘cultures’ of male-dominated institutions is an important priority for male engagement programming to end VAWG.

Arranging workshops on women’s rights, gender equality, and institutional responsibilities can be proved effective to bring institutional reforms. We can persuade them to stop Violence Against Women and Girls (WAWG) by sensitizing them about gender socialization, harmful norms of masculinity and best practices. It will motivate them to commit to change institutional culture and practices concerning VAWG.

Another promising and relatively neglected area of work with men on ending VAWG is to address the role that men can play to create a more conducive public environment for efforts to end VAWG. The principle of men holding other men accountable for their patriarchal behavior should be extended to holding male authority figures accountable for their public discourse.

Hum Network Limited took the initiative to recognize and honor the contribution and achievements of iconic women from Pakistan and around the world.

Hum Network honored “Omer Aftab” also, The only male champion of change amongst 11 distinguished women. Omer Aftab received the 1st “Lux Hum Women Leadership Award” for his contributions toward social reforms and women empowerment.

The survival of the fittest can be a perfect phrase that can describe our world today.

The coronavirus pandemic has hit the world so hard that it is impossible for most of us to comprehend its magnitude. No matter how many problems have existed before, we have never experienced the world to come together, and fight for a single cause as one enormous family.

It is comforting to see the empathy for every country and nation, but also very disheartening to see how unprepared we were for a pandemic crisis like this. This novel coronavirus pandemic has forced us to ponder on how we all used to take our lives for granted. How ill-informed we were about our capacities and strengths.

The definition of a superpower – a country that could dominate and exert influence on a global scale through its means of economic, military, technological, and cultural strength has entirely changed to a nation that can save its people’s lives with the best of health facilities.

Now the next question is, how to survive the economic crisis? At this moment, no expert can analyze and share an accurate picture of the abyss we will fell into.

It is anticipated that millions of employees will be laid off, and the world economy will be shaken to its core. But what you and I can do about this?

The foremost step is to accept the current state of affairs. To overcome anxiety, we must accept that our lives are going to be changed for a while and we should focus on areas that we can control. Focus on your strengths and abilities and remember the last time, when things got bad, and how you got through them.

We all have a role to play, to do what we do best. We must understand that this pandemic will leave us with other serious problems which might take some time to get back to normal. However, we must remember that working hard and taking care of our mental health is the key to survival.

These are the three ways you can overcome anxiety about this pandemic and your financial stress:

Take care of your body

Some exercises can really heal you from inside. Take deep breaths, stretch, or meditate. In these times, nervous eating is the most common habit so try to avoid that. Eat healthy, well-balanced meals on time. Regular exercise and 7-8 hours’ sleep can truly reduce your stress levels.

Make time to unwind

This is true that a person who follows one hobby can sustain good mental health. Do something creative, which makes you feel productive in these days of quarantine? For some, it can be cooking or painting, or playing music, or even getting closer to God.

Organize Work From Home

For many of us, working from home is a new routine. Therefore, understanding that this is the only option can make you understand that things will be different for some time but not necessarily unproductive. Get up early in the morning and dress up so you can follow a schedule. Make a to-do list and follow it one by one. By the end of your working hours, it will give you a sense of accomplishment and you would feel less stressed about your job or business. Stay connected with your co-workers. Listen to their issues, help each other follow a work from home routine. Be concerned, be supportive.

Connect With Others

Fear and anxiety are natural and normal emotions to experience. The fear over the coronavirus has taken us all down, but it should not consume our lives completely.

The anxiety we all feel is the fear of the unknown. We, humans, are programmed to schedule, plan, and control our lives. When this is taken from us, especially collectively, we feel scared and the fear of what will happen next increases our stress and anxiety.

We all react differently when we are challenged with anxiety. Some people start overacting by hoarding of food, unwanted items to take control of their situation. While some are glued to all mediums of information.

In these tough times, for the sake of our mental health, we should only stick to the facts, and not follow and believe everything that we hear and read. Only check trusted sources for information and updates. There is no need to watch the news all day. Talk to people who you trust. Social distancing doesn’t mean you disconnect with the world. Talk to your trusted people about your fear, anxiety, and concerns. Tell them how you are feeling.

Coronavirus came like an unpleasant surprise. Rather than creating a panic, we must learn from others and adopt the best practices. We all must exercise crisis management and mold our routines accordingly.

We are in deep rapture, and so in deep opportunity. It is up to us how we deal with these times and become a source of hope for ourselves and our loved ones. We must learn to accept and adopt one thing at a time.

Recently 8-year-old domestic worker Zohra was tortured to death by her employer. Exposing another case of exploitation of domestic worker, Police arrested three women on charges of forcing a housemaid into prostitution, torturing her and shaving her head. Cases of brutality against domestic workers highlighted in every few months. Remember the cases we see in the mainstream media is only a tip of an iceberg, thousands of cases go unreported in our society.

Millions of women and girls are working as domestic helpers in Pakistan. Most of the domestic workers are making sacrifices to support their families. Instead of giving them respect, they deserve they are among the most exploited and abused workers. In domestic workers lower and middle age girls are most vulnerable who face physical and mental torture, sexual abuse, rape and even death.

If we talk about the employer or abuser it could be a male or female, adult or a child, from a middle-class family or high-class family, influential or a common man. What do these people have in common? cruelty and sick mentality.

Let’s dig out the core reasons for this brutality. First of all, people, who have enough money to afford a housekeeper they tend to get underage or adult girls from the villages because they think they can buy anything with money. They consider and deal with them as their slaves. Feudal mindset and patriarchy are the most common reason of violence but in this case psychology and mental health of the abuser also counts. The cruel actions of employers portray the sadistic tendencies and ill mental health. It has become common practice that people let their frustration and anger out to the nearest weaker person. We have seen many cases where one family member is beating the domestic worker brutally and other family members are watching or even recording it in mobile which shows the overall mental state of the society.

In society today, mental illness and violence are often seen as inextricably linked, creating a harsh stigma for people which have dire consequences. Violence has serious implications for society and people who are involve in it needs to be studied. We need to understand the factors contributing to violence so that we can appropriately develop a risk management plan. Addressing the factors and finding solutions can eliminate violence from the society.

The culture of sending children as domestic helpers in other cities become one of the most significant reasons for abuse because the victims have no contact with their families. Many face illegal confinement and torture for months and years until they escape dead or alive. The families of the victims are also culprit because most of the time they know that their children are facing violence and they never take action to get them out. Many of them remain silent because of fear because they get threats by the influential owner. Others remain quiet because they are getting paid and after knowing about the violence, they get hush money to remain silent. In many cases, the victim is physically and sexually abused by the employer but remain silent sometimes in fear and sometimes she also gets some benefits in exchange for it.

Most cases are not reported but if reported, most of the time culprit do not get punishment. Most of the time they work out an agreement with the victims’ families or they use loopholes of law to get free. Legal proceeding and affording high lawyer fee end up costing a lot to the poor families which is also a reason that they do not register the case or withdraw it.

We as a society are responsible for these kinds of incidence too. We do not take action and remain silent when we see any kind of violence in society. We do not condemn the people around us involved in violence and cruelty. We protest for a few weeks, now even for a few hours on social media making the trend #1 on twitter and questioning humanity and saying how can someone be so ruthless and cruel. But suddenly the hype dies down and we get back to our lives waiting for another incident to become a hero on social media through demanding justice for another victim.