ISLAMABAD, July 27: President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday said the government had decided to appoint women judges, as part of its efforts to take social, economic, legal and constitutional steps for the empowerment of women and for their protection from all kinds of exploitation and violence.

He was addressing a ceremony held in Aiwan-i-Sadr to conclude a campaign in which one million people across the country signed a petition aimed at spreading awareness about violence against women.

On the occasion, Mr Zardari signed the petition.

He said that discrimination against women was rampant in all spheres of society.

He said the PPP-led government had taken a number of steps to empower women and to eliminate all forms of discrimination against them.

He cited several legislations in this regard.

The president said the government had accorded priority to addressing the discriminatory laws and added that concerted efforts were being made to eliminate abuse of women in all its forms, with active involvement of women parliamentarians and representatives of civil society organisations.

The ceremony was attended by a large number of women, members of the federal cabinet, parliamentarians, representatives of NGOs and foreign diplomats.—APP