Women and Children as Victims of Crime

Abstract

While crimes against women and children occur globally, in Pakistan they have become more pronounced because of relative poverty, a historically retrogressive attitude towards women which has also affected the criminal justice system, and political instability. Some of these crimes are manifested across international borders, such as trafficking in women and children, and require close regional and international cooperation and coordination to eliminate them.

In the face of longstanding hostility towards women, the human rights and women痴 rights NGOs have battled the forces of tradition to have those laws enforced which grant women and children rights according to the Constitution. In a collaborative effort, these and other organizations such as the Citizens Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) - an apolitical institution working on the lines of an NGO - have established networks to protect the rights of women and children victims of crimes, and provide them with legal, medical and psychological help. A number of other organizations provide preventive mechanisms such as vocational education, micro-credit facilities and marketing skills for women and children. These are strong programs established by determined citizens, but they are not enough given the scale of the problem.

It is widely accepted that proactive measures by the government aimed at ensuring fair, firm and sensitive enforcement of laws that protect women and children, and removing from the statute book those that discriminate against them, will go a long way in providing necessary relief to victims.