Recently, a female constable was assaulted in Islamabad. On the same day, a young woman in Sargodha was attacked after being lured by a man on the pretext of offering her a job. He later kidnapper her when she reported the crime. A week before that a domestic worker raped a housewife in Islamabad. In August this year, a girl was gang-raped by CDA officials in the famous F-9 Park of the federal capital. Thankfully, those officials are now under arrest. The legal machinery rarely cooperates with the rape/assault victim. Now an alarming new trend is the use of technology to blackmail the rape victim. Videos and photos of the incident are used to shut the victim into silence. Rape rates in Pakistan will only decrease if the government is committed to providing women the security and justice they deserve. Recently, eleven police officers and staffers were removed from two police stations in Abbottabad after they refused to lodge the FIR of a rape victim. While this was a welcome move, the authorities need to ensure that such events are not repeated. Police, medico-legal staff and concerned authorities need to be gender-sensitized and also made accountable for their response in such cases. They must not coerce, mishandle or suppress the victim into withdrawing the complaint. And any such claim made by a victim against a government staffer should be taken seriously. The FIA must take strict notice of any videos and photos leaked or used to silence the victim. Pakistan is urbanizing, and the middle classes are producing more and more educated women who want to make their mark in professional and public spheres. There is a greater need for women’s protection. This is impossible without the administration and the government’s cooperation. Back in January 2016, Chaudhry Sarwar, who was then an active member of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, pointed out that Pakistan is one of the ten worst countries when it comes to rape. He accused the then Punjab government of failing its women. Today, Chaudhry Sarwar is the governor of Punjab. He should ask his party to pull up its socks when it comes to giving women the protection they deserve. If rape is a frequent occurrence in our towns and cities, rapists have impunity and women are scared to leave their homes — Pakistan should forget about ever becoming a progressive nation. * Published in Daily Times, October 1st 2018.