Gender-based violence needs to stop. Here are three ways policymakers can help

Despite some progress over the past decade, Pakistan is at the bottom of regional and global rankings for gender parity. Gender norms and patriarchal attitudes are important drivers of gender inequality. Its ramifications extend beyond individual victims, impacting families, communities, and the nation. Rooted in gender inequality and unequal power dynamics, gender-based violence (GBV) takes on various forms, including physical, sexual, psychological and economic violence. 

GBV is recognised as a widespread international public health and human rights issue. Inadequate understanding of survivors’ needs, special vulnerabilities, the impact of violence, and misconceptions and biases towards women and their situations can result in insensitive and harmful management of survivors of violence. As GBV is commonly considered a private family matter in Pakistan, publicly available statistics do not reflect the true magnitude of the problem. 

Harmful customary practices, deeply ingrained in societal norms, include female infanticide, prenatal sex selection, early marriage, dowry-related violence, and crimes committed in the name of "honour," such as Wani and Swara. Violence against women in politics, involving denial of participation and coercion, underscores the barriers women face in political spheres.  

To respond to these challenges, the Aawaz II programme operated through targeted GBV awareness raising and behaviour change campaigns, with a parallel commitment to consolidating referral pathways to support services and encouraging the enforcement of protection laws. It supported government and communities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab focusing on themes such as GBV and child protection, and working with marginalised groups by promoting behaviour change, generating demand for inclusion at the community level, and ensuring responsiveness at the institutional level.  

Three key insights

Below, we discuss three key insights emerging from the Aawaz II programme’s evaluation in the area of GBV vis-à-vis the global Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls by 2030.  

1. Holistic approaches that cut across sectors (e.g., health, education, social protection) and levels of government and society are essential to address GBV along the prevention, protection, and response spectrum.  

   GBV is largely a hidden crime, vastly underreported, making it challenging to determine its exact scale. It is considered a 'global pandemic' by the World Bank, with alarming statistics from UN Women revealing the prevalence of intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence worldwide. 

   Specific to Aawaz II provinces (Punjab & KP), the Pakistan Demographic Health Survey (2017-18) reports that 25.8% of women aged 15-49 in Punjab, and 43% in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, had experienced physical violence since the age of 15, whilst a survey of 1,000 women in Punjab found that between 70% to 90% of married women have experienced abuse from their spouses at any time in their lives (Ali PA, Gavino MIB, 2008, cited in Sarfraz, A. et al 2022).  

   Aawaz II programme was initially set up to address GBV through the technical assistance to the Commissions on the Status of Women at the federal and provincial levels. However, in response to Covid-19 and the resulting heightened risks of violence, the programme expanded to include awareness raising initiatives at the community-level and capacity-building of GBV relevant helplines and shelters. Later, the programme worked to identify and fill existing capacity gaps in the criminal justice system with the aim of increasing accountability for GBV crimes.  

   Aawaz II provided targeted technical assistance at the government level to fill capacity gaps that hinder the implementation of existing legislation and critical reforms. The synergy between grassroots mobilisation and policy advocacy created a powerful dynamic for change. It operates through an interconnected system of local forums spanning villages, districts, and provinces. These forums were designed to include diverse perspectives, with representation from women (60%), religious minorities (according to community composition), people with disabilities, and transgender persons. 
    

   

2. Plans for emergency responses should be strengthened for GBV to ensure that essential services are not compromised in the face of unexpected crises. 

   At the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and the devastating 2022 floods in Pakistan, national and local departments dealing with matters of children, women, and social welfare were declared non-essential and closed by the Government. Throughout these emergencies, a persistent issue has been the Government's lack of gender-responsive policies and inadequate response mechanisms, despite women being disproportionately affected. 

   Women, girls, and marginalised groups consistently face the greatest challenges during disasters, struggling with limited access to humanitarian aid and enduring heightened vulnerabilities due to factors, such as educational disparities, restricted resources, economic conditions, and cultural barriers. 

   Women with disabilities and those from religious minorities often encounter discrimination, exacerbating their plight during the natural disasters. These challenges underscore the urgent need for inclusive development planning that builds resilient infrastructure and services, ensuring equitable protection for all citizens against future shocks from disasters and climate change. 

   Given the above, Aawaz II successfully lobbied for the continuation of GBV services and pivoted activities to support the provision of psychosocial support and GBV referrals. As a result, 280,812 individuals (50% women) who faced or were at risk of facing violence were able to access mental health and psychosocial support and services.  

   Our evaluation findings were that the government departments, with the responsibility for GBV response, across different sectors should be equipped with the powers, resources, and capacity to play an active role in response to crises. Improved plans for the emergency response to crises would prevent the risks of increasing vulnerabilities through filling in critical service delivery gaps during times of heightened need.  

3. To ensure inclusivity in GBV efforts, targeted actions should be taken to address the specific protection needs of people with disabilities.  

   To ensure inclusivity in GBV efforts within Pakistan, it is essential to implement targeted actions addressing the specific protection needs of people with disabilities. Individuals with disabilities in Pakistan face compounded challenges due to societal stigma, limited mobility, and inadequate access to essential services. 

   The gender-based discriminatory beliefs and attitudes that contribute to perpetuating GBV can be intensified by additional intersecting forms of discrimination, for example on the basis of disability. People with disabilities are particularly targeted by perpetrators of violence because of social exclusion, limited mobility, communication barriers, and a lack of support structures linked to their disability.

Moving forward

In a nutshell, the experiences of Aawaz II evaluation show that working towards a world without GBV requires coordinated, cross-sectoral and inclusive responses rooted in resilient structures for violence prevention, protection, and response. While the Government of Pakistan has passed various laws to prevent violence and support survivors, significant steps are yet to be taken to ensure that this commitment is significantly embraced across all levels of the government and society.

There remains a substantial need for these legislative commitments to be translated into effective actions and widely embraced across all levels of the governance and societal structure, including ensuring that policies are not only in place but also actively enforced, that support services are accessible and adequately resourced, and public awareness campaigns are persistent and impactful. Moreover, the full engagement of community leaders and civil society organisations is essential in creating a culture that condemns violence and supports survivors. 

The commitment to ending GBV must be dedicated and sustainable, reflecting strong efforts in creating safer and more equitable spaces for all. The lessons learned from Aawaz II provide valuable insights and serve as a reminder that while progress has been made, much work remains to ensure that every individual can live free from the threat of gender-based violence. 
 

About the author:
Fayyaz Mohammad is the Research and Evidence (R&E) Practice Lead for Pakistan and Nepal. He was the Project Manager of OPM’s Aawaz II Evaluation project during 2023-24.