Parliamentarians’ role in addressing domestic violence against women
other.This often refers to violence between spouses, or spousal abuse but can also include cohabitants and non- married partners. Incidents of domestic violence occur in all cultures; and peo- ple of all races, ethnicities, religions, sexes and classes have been reported as perpetrators of this serious and hidden criminal act. However, it is mainly women who have been at the receiving end of violence and abuse for years. Domestic violence has many forms, including physical violence, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, intimidation, economic deprivation and threats of violence. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, in the United States, women are around six times as likely as men to experience intimate partner violence.The percentage of women surveyed (national surveys) who were ever physically assaulted by an intimate partner were as follows: Barbados (30%), Canada (29%), Egypt (34%), New Zealand (35%), Switzerland (21%), United States (22%). Some sur- veys in specific places report figures as high as 50- 70% of women surveyed who were ever physically assaulted by an intimate partner. Others, including surveys in the Philippines and Paraguay, report fig- ures as low as 10 per cent.The British Crime Survey for 2006-2007 reported 312,000 women and 93,000 men were victims of domestic violence. The Northern Ireland Crime Survey for 2005
D
omestic violence occurs when a family member, partner or ex-partner attempts to physically or psychologically dominate the
women is actually reported.A 2002 Women's Aid study found that 74 per cent of separated women suf- fered from post-separation violence. According to a report from the
Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in 2002, over 90 per cent of married women surveyed had been kicked, slapped, beaten or sexually abused when husbands were dissatisfied by their cooking or cleaning, or when the women had “failed” to bear a child or had given birth to a girl instead of a boy.
According to a report by Amnesty
Ms Kashmala Tariq, MNA
Chairperson of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians
International, several hundred women and girls die each year in “honour- killings” in Pakistan, in a backdrop to government inaction.An HRCP report in 2007 revealed that 82 per cent of wives in rural Punjab feared violence from their husbands over minor matters
and 52 per cent of wives in most developed urban areas admitted to being beaten by their husbands. By November there were 34 reported cases of “stove deaths” – incidents in which women are doused in kerosene and lit on fire. Many of the cases related to disputes with in-laws.According to the Progressive Women's Association, it had become increasingly dif- ficult to compile statistics on acid burn victims, as many hospitals no longer accepted them. In the absence of a specific domestic violence law,
reported that 13 per cent of people (16 per cent of women and 10 per cent of men) reported being vic- tims of domestic violence at some point in their lives, while the National Study of Domestic Abuse for 2005 reported that 213,000 women and 88,000 men also reported to having been victims.According to the study, one in seven women and one in 16 men were victims of severe physical abuse, severe emotion- al abuse or sexual abuse. In the United Kingdom, the police estimate that around 35 per cent of domestic violence against
300 The Parliamentarian 2008/Issue Four
abusers may be charged with assault, but cases are rarely filed. Police and judges are mostly reluctant to take action in domestic violence cases, viewing it as a family problem, leaving abused women to be returned to their abusive family members.Women cannot pursue charges because of the stigma attached to divorce and their economic and psychological dependence on relatives.At the other end of the scale, relatives also cannot register a report for fear of dishonoring the family.
The issue of domestic violence was discussed at
the year’s CPA conference in Kuala Lumpur, which concluded that Parliamentarians could play a proac- tive role to curb domestic violence through formulat- ing women friendly policies.