ISLAMABAD: Sindh police registered an alarmingly high number of cases of violence against women and children — 913 — in the first four months of the current year.

According to a report released by research and advocacy firm Sustainable Social Development Orga­ni­sation (SSDO), 771 cases of violence against women and 142 cases of violence against children were rep­orted to the police in the province between January 1 and April 30.

Considering social tab­oos in Pakistan, where people are very unlikely to rep­ort such cases to the police, the SSDO believes the actual frequency of cases may be even higher.

Looking at specific types of crimes, a staggering 529 women were kidnapped in Sindh during these four months.

SSDO report based on Sindh police figures paints alarming picture

These numbers paint a very discouraging picture about women’s safety in the province. The next highest numbers were seen in cases of domestic violence (119), which demonstrate demonstrating that women were at increased risk of violence in both the public and private spheres, the report noted.

In addition, 56 cases of rape and 37 cases of honour killing were reported in the province during the period.

In all these cases, three districts, Karachi Central, Hyderabad and Keamari, emerged as the hotspot of violent crimes against women, as out of a total of 771 cases, 63, 58 and 54 cases, respectively, were reported from these districts.

In terms of violence aga­inst children, it was horrifying to observed that sexual violence was the most prevalent, with a total of 67 cases.

Furthermore, 41 children were also kidnapped in this short time span, while 16 cases of child marriage and 14 of child labour were also reported to the police.

Out of 142 total cases of violence against children, Karachi South (21), Keamari (16) and Karachi West (13) emerged as the hotspot districts with the highest frequencies of crimes.

During the first four months of this year, over 900 different cases of this nature occurred.

Syed Kausar Abbas, the executive director of SSDO, said that the aim of publishing this data was to draw attention towards the rapid increase in violence against women and children.

“We hope that with increased media attention and reporting, the government, police and judiciary dedicate their attention to speedy processing, resolution and punishment of offenders, to ensure safety of all citizens, particularly women and children.”

The data on which the report is based was obtai­ned by filing a right to information request under Article 19-A of the Consti­tution.

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2023