South Asia Democracy Watch Expresses Concern on Increasing Violence against Women
South Asia Democracy Watch (SDW), a nonprofit organization in Washington DC and Dallas, has expressed its dismay and concern over the increasing rate of rapes, violence, and murders of women in South Asian countries.
In its recent Board of Directors meeting, the organization demanded strict legal actions, legal reforms, and policy changes to stop violence against women and punish the culprits who are not brought to justice for their heinous crimes in South Asian countries.
SDW President Amir Makhani, calling these crimes as extreme neglect of human rights, said, “South Asia is shamelessly becoming a dangerous and unsafe region for the poor and lower-caste women.” “We need effective policies and legal reforms to protect women in the eight countries of the region,” he stressed.
A lower caste Dilit girl was recently raped in Uttar Pradesh in India. She was the fifth girl in UP who was raped and killed in the last two months. According to reports, there were 88 cases of rapes daily in India in 2019.
Last September, a woman was gang-raped in front of her children in Pakistan when her car stopped on the highway near Lahore. A five-year-old girl was also raped and set on fire in Karachi recently.
According to reports, 12 known cases of rape were registered in Pakistan during 2012-2020. These are just the cases that were reported, as several cases never come to the limelight.
Rape and violence against women in South Asia are mostly the result of social, legal, and gender bias and exploitation, where women are considered second-class citizens.
SDW Executive Director Dr. Qaisar Abbas and board members Aftab Siddiqui, Fayyaz Hassan, Raja Muzaffar, Aroob Iqbal, Raja Zahid Khanzada, and Tausif Kamal attended the board meeting last week in Dallas.
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