Daily Times

KARACHI: Poverty, substance abuse and a lack of education were the main reasons in South Asia including Pakistan, to increase the likelihood of men being violent against women, new regional study reveilles.

Violence against women is being “extremely common” with abuse being a result of jealousy, suspicion or men being offence to a woman and not ‘listening’ to them, study shows.

The study Intimate Partner Violence and Men in South Asia: From Research to Action explores the individual, family and community drivers of violence in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal and proposes policy interventions that would protect women in these three south Asian nations.

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is when physical abuse is committed against a person by those close to them such as spouses, partners and relatives. The report has found that conservative social norms about women’s rights were a common problem in all three countries.

“Pakistan has a range of social groups propagating views that condone violence against women and also has “highly fragmented” social and legislative protection for women,” study pointed out.

To understand the factors leading to male violence against women, researchers from Aga Khan University (AKU) conducted in-depth interviews and focus group meetings with men, boys and survivors of violence in three areas of Karachi including Lyari, Shah Faisal Town and Deh Chohar. Leading figures in the health and education sectors as well as officials in the police and social affairs departments were also consulted to analyse how to improve the effectiveness of policies to curb IPV.

New regional study whose findings were discussed by human rights activists, lawyers and researchers at a seminar held at Aga Khan University on Friday. The seminar was organized by the AKU’s Working Group for Women and the Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health in partnership with the London-based Overseas Development Institute, the Nepal Institute for Social and Environmental Research, the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, USA, and UK Aid.

Speaking about the relevance of the study’s findings, Dr Fiona Samuels, senior research fellow at London-based Overseas Development Institute stated, “Intimate partner violence (IPV) in South Asia is a major public health and human rights issue, situated in a wider context of very high levels of gender inequality.

“Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan rank 111th, 108th and 121st respectively out of 152 countries in the United Nations Development Programme’s Gender Inequality Index,” Dr Samuels added.

Founding director of the Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health at the Aga Khan University, Dr Zulfiqar A Bhutta said: “Initiatives to improve the standing of women and to reduce violence in society are in line with targets under Goals 5, 10 and 16 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”

Research and initiatives to protect women will enhance gender equality, tackle the root causes of inequality, and promote peace and justice, he added.

At the community level, the study found that incidents of IPV were seen as a private matter to be settled within families and noted that approaching the police or courts was seen to be unacceptable. Practices such as early marriages, disapproval of relationships before marriage and beliefs limiting the mobility and career choices of women all made IPV more likely.

Experts noted that there were twelve specific laws related to the protection of women. However, they pointed out that these policies were poorly implemented in Pakistan. Besides initiatives to bring Pakistan in line with international conventions, they called for further steps to criminalize IPV such as marital rape and dowry-related violence.

Experts also stated that women face questions over their character when they approach the police to report violence against them and often report obstacles tied to corrupt practices.

The study recommends having more female police officers and judges as well as enhanced sensitivity training among law enforcement staff to expand women’s access to the justice system.