Pakistan has seen a surge in rape cases over the last few years. This year the number of rape cases being reported has increased significantly. According to statistics, an average of 10 rape cases are reported in Pakistan every day with over 22,000 rape cases reported to the police in the last six years. 85% of these have been from Punjab. However, only 77 of those accused have been convicted which comprises 0.3% of the total figure.
On 25th August, it was reported by various news agencies that in the last 24 hours more than five rape cases were registered at different police stations in Lahore only. The perpetrators spare no woman, young or old, dead or alive. The cases reported were that of a mother of four children who was raped in the Bhagatpura area, a 10-year old was raped by an unidentified person in Manawan, a 17-year old was raped in Lahore’s Lari Adda area and in Johar Town a man raped his 16-year old stepdaughter.
In the days following these instances, two more horrifying rape cases came to light. A woman was gang-raped by a rickshaw driver and his accomplices while they held her daughter hostage and a woman was raped in the Gulberg area after being wrongfully lured into a hotel room for a job interview. Moreover, in Faisalabad, a man named Saif Ali allegedly gang-raped his 15-year old fiancee with three of his friends.
The question that arises is that why is Pakistan facing this rape epidemic when the country proudly claims itself to be an Islamic Republic and Islam strictly prohibits such acts. One reason may be the misogynistic mindset of the society as a whole, every time the media reports a rape case, society starts questioning the victim about their whereabouts, their choice of clothes, who they were with, whether they were alone or not, what time it was and the list goes on. The recent surge can also be attributed to the victim blaming mindset, when these monsters see that only the victim is reprimanded time and again by the society, they gain confidence and feel as if they are invincible and therefore can do whatever they please to whomever.
The society is built in such a way that women are held responsible for their ‘honour’ and the ‘honour’ of their family. Young girls and boys are groomed in different ways, the girls are told to cover up and stay safe, to stay quiet and not bring dishonour to the family, on the other hand, boys are told that they must not act weak, rowdy behaviour is encouraged and problematic behaviour is justified by saying that it’s in the very nature of the male species to act in such a manner. Young people are conditioned to believe in certain stereotypes attached to their genders which further deteriorates the already crumbling structure of the society. At later stages men are not able to regulate their emotions as they were never taught or allowed to feel these emotions in the first place and women are blamed for feeling too much and are dismissed altogether for being the lesser being, this misogynistic mindset hurts everyone in the end.
Moreover, following the victim-blaming process, an outcry for publicly hanging of the rapist can be heard from the society, it may be the best solution for this rape epidemic, l optical justice may satisfy public hunger however it does not resolve the issue. As long as core issues remain in society and if they are not dealt with it will only increases the chances of such incidents to occur again and again.
The writer is former NICL chairman and tweets @MAyyazKhanNiazi