Photo: Protesters from an Islamist group on Friday in Lahore, Pakistan. Their banner demands public hanging for those who commit "atrocities against women and children." K.M. Chaudary/Associated Press
Protests have taken place in Pakistan after two sickening sex attacks took place in the country. The first involved a 5-year-old girl who was hit on the head, raped and set on fire after going to the shops to buy cookies. The second attack involved a woman who was taken from her car and sexually assaulted in front of her children. The attacks have put women's and children's rights to the top of the agenda in the country.
So far, the police have arrested 20 suspects in relation to the attack on the child and claim that one of the suspects has confessed. Police are hunting two men in their 30s for the attack on the woman. In that case, it appears that they attacked the car with sticks and stones and broke windows before dragging her out and assaulting her.
Many activists have claimed for years that women's and children's rights in the country are not properly protected and that such incidents often go completely unreported. In many cases, victims are blamed for the assaults or simply not believed.
Mehnaz Akber Aziz, a member of the opposition party in Pakistan's National Assembly stated:
"There is no empathy, only silence. That is changing, because the public is pushing back. There is a lot of indifference… You are signalling to these people, the rapists, that 'It's OK, you can continue doing what you're doing and there will be a way out, even if you're arrested"
The lawmaker went on to say that most of these such incidents occur in small towns and rural locations where many men feel that they will not be tracked by police or prosecuted, often due to the fact that women who suffer such attacks, and their families, feel that they have had their honour broken and therefore do not wish to publicise the event further.
The anger was greatly increased when a police commander questioned why the woman was travelling so late at night on a road by herself.
Ailia Zehra, a Pakistani journalist, wrote on Twitter in relation to the police commander's statements:
"If a top police officer can openly engage in victim blaming imagine how junior policemen treat rape survivors. THIS is why women don't report sexual crimes."
CCPO Lahore must be removed for his callous remarks blaming the #MotorwayRape victim. If a top police officer can openly engage in victim blaming imagine how junior policemen treat rape survivors. THIS is why women don’t report sexual crimes. #RemoveCCPOLahore
— Ailia Zehra (@AiliaZehra) September 10, 2020
Indeed, many of the protests have been organised online and hashtags have been rapidly spreading as more Pakistanis tweet their disgust at not only the attacks, but also the perception that neither the authorities, nor wider society, are acting to protect the vulnerable.
These are hardly the first horrendous crimes against women and children to come to light. In 2015, it was alleged that 280 children in 14 remote villages had been abused by a 15-strong gang of men over a significant amount of time. With the children's families intimidated into silence.
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