According to a recent report by the Sustainable Social Development Organization (SSDO), a social organization working on other human rights, including the rights of women and children, abductions and violence against women and children across Pakistan during the first quarter of 2020 increased by 360%.
The first quarterly report issued by the organization was based on news data published in the country’s leading English and Urdu newspapers and the organization surveyed the country’s six major newspapers for three months.
In total, the report examined eight issues, including child abuse, abduction, violence against women, rape and sexual exploitation, murder, domestic violence, child marriage, and child labor.
The organization collected data from newspaper reports from January to the end of March and released its findings, which showed an increase in all forms of violence and crime across the country during the first quarter of 2020, however. In the last three months, a decrease in crime has also been noted in a few days.
The organization issues a quarterly report, and this time the report was not linked to the coronavirus, nor did it report an increase in crime in the context of the epidemic.
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The report shows that in the first quarter as a whole, incidents of violence against women and children, such as murder, kidnapping and rape, increased, but February saw a 73% decrease.
According to the report, in the first quarter the crime of these 6 issues increased exponentially in March by 360%. Violence against women and children increased by an average of 200% in the first quarter.
Exploitation of children
According to the report, the first quarter saw an increase in child exploitation across the country, with the highest number of incidents occurring in March 61, compared to 13 reported in February.
The report said that these were the incidents that were published in the newspapers while the number of unreported incidents could be much higher.
Similarly, child labor also increased during the first quarter, however, only 6 cases of child labor violation were reported during the first three months.
Domestic violence
The report said that the incidence of domestic violence increased by 230% during the first quarter and the highest number of cases was reported in March at 20, while 6 cases of domestic violence were reported in February across the country.
Rape and harassment
The report shows that workplace harassment was also reported in the country during the first quarter, with the highest number of cases reported in February, with five cases of workplace harassment reported in March and one in January.
The first quarter also saw an increase in rape cases, with the highest number of cases reported at 25 in March, followed by 24 in February and 9 in January.
Violence against women
The SSDO also reported an increase in violence against women during the first quarter of the year, with the highest number reported in March.
According to the report, the number of cases of violence against women decreased by 73% in February and surprisingly no such case was reported in February, while 9 cases of violence against women were reported in January and 36 in March.
The highest number of cases of violence against women occurred in Punjab province, where the proportion was 34%, followed by Sindh at 8% and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at 3%. Incidents of violence against women were not reported from Balochistan.
The report also noted an increase in kidnappings and murders, with the highest overall crime reported in March in the first quarter, with a 360% increase in March.