• What You Can Do
• Resources
• Related Material

Discriminatory laws combined with harmful customary laws and practices deny women their human rights in Pakistan. Pervasive institutional and judicial discrimination along with illegal detention and custodial violence make it nearly impossible to obtain justice for many women.

Women and girls in Pakistan confront astounding levels of violence. Domestic violence, including acid attacks and burnings by fire, has been estimated to occur in 80 percent of all households in the country, while hundreds of women and girls are murdered each year in the name of family “honor” by their relatives for allegedly transgressing cultural norms for female behavior.

Women activists fighting to promote respect for women’s human rights often come under attack themselves. Women leaders ranging from prominent human rights lawyers to elected village representatives face discrimination and assault. These women are often threatened and criticized for misguiding women from their Islamic values.

What You Can Do

Write to President Musharraf and the Government of Pakistan urging them to adopt stronger laws and practices to protect women’s human rights. Click here for a sample letter and contact information.

Resources

AASARA (shelter)

Aasthan Latif Welfare Society

AGHS Legal Aid Cell

AURAT Foundation

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan

Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Aid

National Commission on the Status of Women

Pakistan Women’s Lawyers Association

Panah (sanctuary)

Progressive Women’s Association

Shirkat Gah - Women’s Resource Centre

Related Material

• Human Rights Watch work on Women’s Rights
  
  
• Human Rights Watch work on Pakistan
  
  
• U.S. State Department Trafficking Report Undercut by Lack of Analysis
  June 2003
  
  
• Pakistan: Powell Should Promote Women's Rights and Democracy
  July 2002
  
  
• Pakistan: Tribal Councils Source of Abuse
  July 2002
  
  
• Letter to President Pervez Musharraf
  July 2002
  
  
• U.S. State Department Trafficking Report Missing Key Data, Credits Uneven Efforts
  June 2002
  
  
• Crime or Custom? Violence against Women in Pakistan
  October 1999
  
  
• Double Jeopardy: Police Abuse of Women in Pakistan
  May 1992
  
  

Women’s Rights > Campaigns > Stop Violence against Women in Pakistan

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