by Demi Conteh
During 2021 more than 5200 women reported rape cases in Pakistan. That number is probably only a fraction of the actual number of cases of sexual violence, as most victims are too afraid to report incidents, because most reports come without action against the abuser, but a large amount of social stigma for the victim.
The failure of the country to prevent sexual violence has put millions of women at risk. Last week, a 25-year-old mother was raped on a train while she traveled from Karachi to Multan.
By Tuesday, May 31st, three men were arrested on suspicion of rape on a train, according to police reports on CNN, one of them being a ticket collector.
The lack of action to protect women has been a systematic problem in the country for most of its history. After public outcry a couple years ago, the democracy passed two laws in an attempt to solve the problem. First, in November of 2020, Pakistan passed a law allowing courts to order the chemical castration (the use of drugs to reduce sexual activity), which is a cruel, usual, and ineffective punishment. Second, in December 2021, the country toughened its rape laws, by creating special courts to deal with rape cases within six months as well as carrying out medical exams for women would have reported sexual violence.
This incident, however, has reminded the democracy of over 220 million, that those laws do not solve the root cause of the problem. Days after the incident, Pakistan ordered railway operators to improve the safety of their passengers, by including CCTV cameras in common areas. But this too is just a piecemeal solution to a systematic problem. As Amnesty International explained, small steps are not enough instead, “authorities should focus on the crucial work of reforms that will address the root causes of sexual violence and give survivors the justice they deserve.”
It is horrifying when we see young mothers raped on trains. What is more horrifying is realizing that thousands of women face similar experiences, most of them unreported. Pakistan’s small steps to protect women are not enough, the thousands of women who are survivors of sexual violence deserve better. They deserve systematic reform. They deserve justice. They deserve to not live in fear when taking trains home from work.
edited by Michael Brand
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