Islamabad, Nov 28: Oxfam`s representative in Pakistan, Farhana Faroqi has said that nearly 80 percent of the women in Pakistan faced domestic violence at one state or the other in their lives, and that seven million of them were missing.
Farhana stated this while speaking at a seminar on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, here last evening.
Pakistani women experience violence in many forms, including rape, sexual assault, domestic violence, exchange marriages and honour killing, while the violators largely go unpunished due to administrative incompetence, rampant corruption and a societal taboo, The Nation quoted her as saying.
Pakistani women, she said, were also marginalised and discriminated economically. They form 28 percent of the economically active population, added the Oxfam representative.
Appreciating the Women Protection Bill promulgated by the government, she said that the situation in Pakistan was much better now as the government seemed concerned over such issues.
In her presentation Farhana also said Pakistan had a population of 160 million with approximately 40 per cent living below the poverty line, of which an estimated 60 per cent are women. "There is an ongoing tug-of-war between ultra conservative religio-political forces and more liberal elements of the society," she observed.
Talking about the global condition of women round the world, she said 55 million are out of the schools, 529 million every year die during childbirth, 100 million are missing and 60 per cent of them live in poverty.
Bureau Report
