93% of women in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan experience sexual violence
Islam is the “religion of peace” where nearly all women in Muslim countries face sexual violence.
Coincidence? No.
“Men have authority over women because Allah has made the one superior to the other, and because they spend their wealth to maintain them. Good women are obedient. They guard their unseen parts because Allah has guarded them. As for those from whom you fear disobedience, admonish them and send them to beds apart and beat them.” — Qur’an 4:34
Muhammad “struck me on the chest which caused me pain, and then said: Did you think that Allah and His Apostle would deal unjustly with you?” — Aisha (Sahih Muslim 2127)
Another hadith depicts Muhammad saying: “If a husband calls his wife to his bed [i.e. to have sexual relation] and she refuses and causes him to sleep in anger, the angels will curse her till morning” (Bukhari 4.54.460).
And she would in that case be disobedient, hence eligible for beating.
Another hadith has Muhammad saying: “By him in Whose Hand lies my life, a woman can not carry out the right of her Lord, till she carries out the right of her husband. And if he asks her to surrender herself [to him for sexual intercourse] she should not refuse him even if she is on a camel’s saddle” (Ibn Majah 1854).
“‘93% of Pakistani women experience sexual violence,’” by Mudaser Kazi, Express Tribune, March 8, 2017:
Pakistan is among those countries where 70% women and girls experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime by their intimate partners and 93% women experience some form of sexual violence in public places in their lifetime.
This was stated by founder of Madadgaar National Helpline 1098 and national commissioner for children, Zia Ahmed Awan, while quoting the statistics of international organisations during a press conference at their office on Tuesday.
Awan lauded, in tribute to the International Women Day which is celebrated on March 8 every year, the courage of the 8,897 women and children from across Pakistan who came forward in 2016 and fought for their rights and protection by calling, visiting or contacting Madadgaar’s helpline.
“The data recorded by our organisation is just the tip of the iceberg. Our helpline would [if there was awareness] have been flooded with calls from victims and survivors,” he stated, adding that only 10% cases of violence are being reported in Sindh and Punjab in media with even less reporting from Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa….
“Out of the total cases reported on the helpline, the highest percentage of victims was that of women at 56%,” explained Madadgaar’s general manager Muhammad Ali Bilgrami who added that cases reported by boys were 16%, 15% by girls and 13% by men.
According to Bilgirami, 7,561 cases were reported from Sindh and the least number of cases, 306, were reported from Balochistan. Unrest, targeted killing of the legal fraternity, weak law enforcement, absence of rule of law and overall social, cultural and religious barriers stop people in Pakistan, especially women and girls, to come forward and report violence perpetrated against them, said Bilgrami.
While sharing the nature of cases reported in 2016 to Madadgaar National Helpline, Bilgrami briefed that 118 cases of child marriage, 162 of cybercrime, 14 of child abuse, 2,092 of domestic violence, 14 of forced marriage, 562 of harassment, 12 of karo-kari, 2,251 of missing children, 213 of missing women, 792 of mental torture, 5 of rape, 6 of sodomy, 10 of sexual harassment, 7 of sexual abuse and 5 cases of trafficking.
