Abstract

Violence against women is one of the crucial social mechanisms by which women are forced into a subordinate position. In developing countries like Pakistan it is pervasive and cuts across all lines of religion,income, age, class and culture. The lives of millions of women living in such countries are circumscribed by traditions which enforce extreme exclusion and submission to men. The isolation and fear of women living under such threats are compounded by state indifference to and complicity in women’s oppression. Abuses by private actors are crimes under the country’s criminal laws. However, there is a systematic failure by the state to prevent and to punish perpetrators of gender-based violence. This research entitled ‘Violence against women of Pakistan: A case study of Cholistan desert’ has pointed to significant violations of human rights against women in relation to issues of gender violence. Therefore it examines the rates of violence committed against women in the Cholistan Desert, located in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The qualitative and quantitative data gathered suggests that the abuse of women in Cholistan society is widespread and persistent. Violence towards women is deep-rooted in the cultural norms and socio-political milieu of this remote rural area, where men are considered as holders of his female family members. In turn, women live in fear and under the pressure of male oppression. They experience many forms of abuse encompassing physical, sexual and psychological violence. Few women escape the perpetual violence.