Gender based violence (GBV) is a heinous crime that Pakistani society is facing. To deal with this menace, both the government and non-governmental organizations have taken steps at various levels to improve police service delivery, competence-building and awareness-raising on GBV, establish women’s shelters, establish women’s development and welfare units in district welfare departments, and open helplines. However, these initiatives are limited, scattered and lack coordination. Our research aims to understand how the introduction of ICT might improve both competence on GBV and the coordination of the mechanisms dealing with GBV. Using a qualitative approach, we conducted in-depth interviews of relevant actors involved in the process of dealing with GBV. Our research findings show that GBV is a deeply rooted and complex structural phenomenon that requires a well-planned, well-coordinated and politically driven strategy. While ICT has the potential to improve competence of stakeholder and processes of reporting, mitigating and preventing GBV, access to technology by rural women is limited. It is therefore important that technological innovations take account of contextual constraints and opportunities.
In Pakistan, gender-based violence is a widespread social issue which is increasing at an alarming rate. Women are subjected to numerous types of gender based violence including spousal murders, acid burning, burned alive, beatings, psychological torture and the traditional honor killings [
States are responsible for mitigating patriarchy and gender-based violence through their legal systems [
This study is set in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Province of Pakistan which is one of the most challenging provinces to work in on issues related to gender-based violence. There has always been an opposition and resistance to the passing of pro-women laws, a high prevalence of violence, and poor mobility for women and girls. The 2012–2013 Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (PDHS) stated that KP has the highest percentages in the country for women who have ever experienced physical and/or emotional violence. As in many societies, victims of sexual violence in KP also feel stigmatized, which inhibits reporting. After the passing of the 18th Amendment [
Post devolution of power, KP enacted
Despite of all these initiatives, KP police data shows an increase in the number of domestic violence cases registered in 2019, especially in murder and battery. In 2018, 180 women were murdered in their households. In 2019, the figure rose to 217. Thirty-six women reported physical abuse at home in 2019, three times more than in 2018 [
Keeping in view the complexity, this paper investigates the tension that exists in understanding the issue of GBV i.e. whether it is a personal issue or a social issue; a dispute or a crime, and how the nature and meaning of GBV changes with the approach one follows in understanding the issue. GBV and related crimes are clearly mentioned in laws, community policing guidelines, policies, and gender training and awareness programs. However, it is not internalized and institutionalized in effective structures and practices; the attempts made to address the issue have been mostly cosmetic and inadequate. Rather than taking ownership, the government has engaged NGOs to address the issue, resulting in further lack of ownership. The competence is low in police in dealing with GBV issues. There exists lack of knowledge of laws and their role in dealing with victims and prevention. There is an acute need for training that is both effective and accessible to police and community on how to deal with and prevent GBV. Based on local understandings of GBV, and the barriers that exist in addressing these issues through policy, legal, technical and social means, this paper explores the potential of ICT’s to increase the competence of police, civil society and community by making the relevant information and knowledge available and accessible to relevant stakeholders. The paper begins with a theoretical framework followed by the methods employed. We then present our findings and discussion based on a case study of rural Mansehra, Pakistan We begin by identifying the relevant actors involved in the GBV prevention mechanism and explore their roles and responsibilities, strengths and weaknesses. We then move to a discussion of the possibilities of using ICTs to address some of these challenges and improve coordination, prevention and response to gender-based violence.
This study has used an interdisciplinary approach to understand the process of gender-based violence and how state and state led institutions respond to and deal with it. Our interdisciplinary approach has taken perspectives from security studies, development studies and feminist studies and helped us in understanding the problem from a multidimensional perspective, the most important of which are concepts within human security, gender-based violence, community-based policing, and information and communication technology (ICT).
The fundamental concept that is used in this research study is human security. Human security refers to the way in which men and women struggle in daily lives to ensure their wellbeing and security/ insecurity from various forms violence both visible and invisible. Human security has multiple definitions ranging from the popular view of security as the prevention of violence, to broader perspectives including the provision of basic life necessities. As illustrated by Tadjbakhsh and Chenoy (2007), the concepts of security and insecurity have relatively different understandings in different contexts. For some people, insecurity comes from economic loss; however, for others it comes from extremism, violation of human rights, conflicts etc. The same authors suggest that ‘‘Security needs to be redefined as a subjective experience at the micro-level in terms of people’s experience’’ [
According to UN, violence against women (VAW) and gender-based violence (GBV) can be used interchangeably because during conflict the majority of women face gender-based violence just because they were ‘‘women or feminine’’ [
GBV can be the combination of the above-mentioned actions, however, in the context of Pakistan in particular it is still perceived and understood as a private matter inside the four walls of the house. Bringing GBV as an issue into the public sphere is still a challenge, in that it been
WHO and UN also describe gender-based violence as a basic human rights offence. The 2017 WHO report on violence against women clearly mentioned that Every human being (men and women) has the innate right to his/her physical, sexual, emotional integrity and health [
As we saw in the introduction, the police’s role in GBV cases needs to be improved and strengthened. One of the challenges for the police in addressing GBV is the lack of trust between police and the public. Trust and confidence in policing has always been investigated as one of the broader social queries in police-public relations. Public trust in police arises as a result of people’s expectations towards police. Also, the public is the end user of services and expects the police to provide security and support specifically when their safety is at stake [
Community-based policing has myriad definitions and approaches which makes it an ambiguous concept [
According to Tech Target, ICT is defined as,
The use of ICTs can transform institutions by making them more accessible, effective and accountable to deliver better quality public services. These ICTs have immense potential to radically transform public institutions and private organizations alike, and to enhance the quality, speed and reliability of services to citizens. Many government institutions and organizations around the globe, including police departments, are adopting ICTs to increase transparency, accountability and quality of services and change the way their administrations work and empower citizens through access and use of information [
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, various ICT initiatives have been launched by KP police to help communities to more easily access police. In September 2015, the KP Police established a Police School of Information Technology. The public can now lodge an online First Information Report (FIR) and register complaints. The Victim Services Toll Free Numbers are established that help victims who need quick service or are not in a position to visit a Police Station to file a complaint. Using the toll-free number, a victim can complain about a police officer and police stations. The service aims at both reducing police response time and providing the Provincial Police Office with a monitoring tool for assessing the speed and quality of police service. Both the police and the communities have expressed that the ICT-based initiatives of KP police have helped in establishing good relationships between the police and local communities [
In order to understand the complexity of the issue, we identified actors who are working, contributing, or dealing with GBV cases, including community activists, GBV survivors, civil society organizations, police, Health Department staff, Social Welfare Department staff, and staff of
Mansehra [
It is clear from our interviews and readings of policy documents that the relevant institutions in the government of Pakistan and civil society organizations are concerned with GBV and have taken several measures in addressing the GBV. However, there was a lack of concrete legal, institutional, and administrative initiatives by the government and other stakeholders. Our inquries uncovered some good work on the main causes and nature of GBV has been done mostly by civil society organizations. Most of this work, however, is scattered and has not led to a comprehensive approach and policy for handling GBV cases. Therefore, a need was felt to better understand GBV, the major actors related to GBV, the roles and responsibilities of GBV actors, the strength and weaknesses of GBV actors and the possibilities of developing ICTs for those actors for better coordination and response and prevention of GBV. The discussion below is divided into two sections. First, we will present the data from multiple dimensions to understand how GB is understood. We then move on to discuss the gaps in addressing GBV, and how ICT may play a role in improving the mechanisms through which women can seek security and protection.
To understand the context in which women live in Mansehra, it is important to understand the societal norms and values of the area. The differentiation of gender roles and social division are present in classical patriarchal manner, which provides the foundation of society in rural areas especially. Women are mainly confined to the household, while men work in the public space
When we interviewed men and women in our study area about how they understand GBV, we came across very interesting insights.
One of the respondents on inquiring about GBV said that
Domestic violence involves wide range of factor i.e. in most cases other members of the family are also involved. Another respondent illustrated that her husband is in middle east and she stays with her in laws. For her it’s very tough to live with her in-laws in the absence of her husband because her husband always sides with his family and she faces emotional and psychological abuse continuously. Similarly, she reflected that
We also conducted focus group discussions of women belonging to lower socio-economic strata since majority of the population was poor in our study area. According to the participants of the focus groups the prevalence of violence is comparatively more in poor class than in middle class households. Poverty and economics play one of the major roles in boosting a toxic masculinity. If a man cannot fulfill the needs of the family, he ultimately takes out his frustration on the women in the family. One of the respondent narrated,
It is equally important to understand how men understand domestic violence since they are one of the main actors in the phenomenon. When we interviewed men and asked how they understand and define domestic violence, they were reluctant to talk about it. According to them domestic violence is a private matter and shouldn’t be discussed in public and outside the house. Being part of a patriarchal society men hold access and exercise their will as they have structural power over women. In such circumstances even if the man is poor or unemployed he still dominates in all relationships. One of the respondents narrated that
Men irrespective of their economic class believed that domestic violence can either be acceptable and unacceptable based upon the situation. One respondent said that
They all believed that giving education to women is important but that education should not challenge the gender roles ascribed by the society. A respondent illustrated
Another man said that
However, we met two men in the same community who were local activists and were attached to KK (khuwand-e-kor, a local organization) in project dealing with GBV. Both of these men were journalists by profession and were fulfilling their responsibility as a responsible citizen by doing social work in their respective communities. When we asked them why they think GBV is prevalent in the society, they explained it through economic lens arguing that in poverty brings innumerable evils with it and violence is one of them. If the rural communities are given full opportunities to establish their lives according to decent standards, this menace can be controlled. However, they couldn’t see the power imbalance and patriarchy as a root cause of GBV. It illustrated that it need long term awareness sessions of the communities where they need to learn that how societies, rituals and customs are inherently gendered and patriarchal in nature. And how the power hierarchies need to be renegotiated.
Most of the men we spoke to thought that men are actively involved in domestic violence but they believed women provoke them to do violence. In a patriarchal society, the role of men is well established. To move towards a socially and gender equitable society male engagement at all levels is important. In most cases men are agents of change or the gatekeepers and share equal responsibility towards gender equality. Patterns of gender inequality are borne out of stereotypical norms of masculinity and men’s gender identities [
Throughout the country Islam is seen and followed with great respect but Islamic notions are stronger in rural area of Pakistan than urban areas. Islam is the driving narrative of different matters and in the case of domestic violence Islamic notions have a great deal to offer. Misinterpretation of different Islamic practices are quite common in rural areas. Islam is often used as a shield to defend different people’s narratives, for example if a man beats his wife he comes up with the argument that Allah has made us responsible for you therefore he has the ownership rights over women. A respondent narrated that
Many women stated that all the matters in their lives are adopted according Islamic teachings. One of the woman said that,
In our study area Khuwand-e-kor (KK)[
In Mansehra, the status of women with respect to economic viability and education is not very promising. The staff in KK worked extensively to establish groups and committees of local men and women. The nominated committee members by the NGO based on their active role in the community were regularly called for meetings where they were assigned their respective roles and responsibilities. These selected men and women were given different ranks within committees like president, vice presidents, deputy. The men and women who were selected were active in the community like teachers, lawyers, lady health workers, and religious leaders. Special operating procedures were designed for the activities of community groups /committees. Proper bi-monthly meetings were conducted by these community groups where members would identify the issue, discuss the strategy to address the issue and then lobby with relevant actors for sustainable solutions. All the activities and meetings were properly documented and minutes of the meeting were mandatory to share with KK office in Mansehra city.
Working with violence and women rights is not an easy task in Mansehra district. KK started working in 2010 and they ran the project very successfully till 2013. KK named all the village groups and committees as
One question we posed to the KK staff was whether this grass root intervention and establishment of community mechanism helped in preventing gender-based violence. As a response one respondent narrated a story,
When asked about how reported cases of violence are handled in
To understand the role of the Health Department in facilitating the GBV survivors to get a medical and legal help, interviews were conducted from the Head of Emergency Department Ayub Medical Complex and his team. He explained that the Government of Pakistan has developed a mechanism for GBV survivors to get legal and medical help. For example, the victim has to go to a government hospital to get a medico-legal report for filing an FIR in the police station. Without this report the complaint cannot be filed. The severe cases of GBV who come directly to medical hospitals for assistance are diverted by the doctors to the police guard established within the hospital. There the case is registered and only then doctors can give medical aid. GBV cases are not entertained by the medical staff of any government or private hospitals, or Basic Health Units (BHUs) without being reported to police. Ayub Medical Complex, which is biggest teaching hospital of Hazara Division, sees a huge number of GBV cases annually. Most of the cases that are treated in emergency department are of burns and poison. Inside the hospital there is a well-established police unit with regular police officers on duty 24/7. Currently, district government has increased the number of police officers placed in the hospital. There are six to eight female police officers who are present in the hospital in morning and evening shift along with male police. However, the situation becomes bleak as we move towards the BHUs, smaller hospitals and towards deprived districts where the health department and police department are relatively weak as compared to Abbottabad [
We see that there are indeed mechanisms in place to assist GBV survivors: the Emergency Department of the hospitals are functional 24/7 every day of the year for treating all the emergency cases including GBV victims. Hospital administration together with police department have established police guards within hospitals to report the GBV cases instantly. The doctors on duty always produce honest medico-legal document upon examination. There are very thin chances that any doctor would produce fake certificate because this document is a legal document and can be challenged in the court. However, a formal documentation of the SOPs of the doctors working in emergency unit and with GBV survivors is not available, and may not even exist. The safety and security of the victims and the doctors and nurses on duty is not ensured either.
The Social Welfare Department has the core responsibility of providing shelter to women who are victims of abuse and violence. The Government of Pakistan gives custody of these women to the department with the permission of a magistrate. The department then send these women to crisis centers and takes responsibility for their security during transport while pursuing their cases in courts. Once the women are handed to the department, their safety, shelter and food is the responsibility of the department. In addition, the department also facilitate the women who are fighting legal battles with their abusers.
Shockingly, the whole of Hazara Division has but one
The institutional hierarchy of
When the warden was asked about the board of directors she stated that:
In policy,
There are obvious gaps between the policy document and the ground reality. The institutions are supposed to provide proper formal education but don’t. The staff are perpetually overworked with some having served 72 hour shifts. Similarly, the staff employed are placed in the wrong institution. One member of the administration lamented on her lack of experience with women and how she had originally been appointed to the Children’s Protection Unit (CPU). The NCI, a grade 9 officer, had the following to say:
Majority of police personnel view reforms positively. According to them the reforms aim at winning public trust by serving the public and being accessible to them at all times. The reforms are multidimensional that ought to bring about operational, infrastructural ad institutional reforms for confidence building through improving efficiency and ensuring transparency and neutrality. The main features of the reforms as identified by the police personnel are:
Capacity building of Police through establishment of 6 new specialized training school
Structural improvements
Establishment of Police Access Services (PAS) a portal that provides online access to public for registration of their complaints and for recording their feedback.
Digitization of First information reports (FIRs)
Easy access to information through official website of police
Public access to Inspector General of Police (IG) and Deputy Inspector general of Police (DIG) through just an SMS (short Message Service)
Establishment of Police Assistance Lines (PAL) offices
Inclusion of technology such as Identity Verification System (IVS), Vehicle verification system (VVS), Criminal Record Verification system (CRVS), Call Data Record (CDR) and mobile forensic
Tenant Information Act
Tourist facilitation centers
According to the police personnel Police management has also been improved through managerial tasking. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), Operational guidelines (OGs) and Policy guidelines (PGs) have been provided parallel to police rules. Police Act 2017 provides autonomy to police by providing tenure security and protection from external threats and also ensures accountability, transparency and neutrality through constant monitoring by District Assembly, provincial and public safety commissions. District council receive performance reports and daily situation reports from the police officers. Transfers, postings and recruitments are now merit based freeing the police of negative influences. The act also gave legal cover to Dispute Resolution councils (DRCs) and Public Liaison Councils (PLCs). According to most of our police respondents, the technical reforms introduced in KP police are proving to be successful. The verification systems have made notable contributions in improving efficiency and have been made available at all checkpoints and barriers. However, irrespective off the initiatives that are taken in improving the police service through various initiatives and reforms there are still areas that need special attention and improvement. In our interviews we focused on how police understand and respond to cases of gender-based violence. As discussed earlier, the government has set up special women’s desks for helping women complainants to launch their complaints smoothly, however, there are lots of administrative and social challenges that are faced not only by the women police but also the complainants. While interviewing women police we found that women police themselves don’t feel secure and face significant problems, one of which is long working hours. Women officers usually have to stay late at work, and this is difficult, as they are responsible for not only their official duties but house management as well.
While interviewing, one of the woman police commented:
She further added:
Another one commented;
The duty timings for women police are not only hard but also lack a proper system. During the data collection, most of the women police complained about this issue. They were of the view that instead of being on duty 24/7, specific duty hours should be allocated so that they can manage their duty hours properly. The initial purpose of establishing women police stations was to provide relief and support to the women who approach police with their problems and are unable to share them with the male police. In the beginning, the women police were allowed to register the complaint/FIR and proceed the action according to the nature of issue brought up. But unfortunately, just after 3-4 years of their establishment, they were being stopped from performing their main function; to listen the problems of women that they feel hesitant to share with males and to register the FIR. Why this was stopped is still not known by many people, as asked by both men and women police, they replied;
Taking charge of registering a complaint by the women police station might not seem a big issue, but it is actually limiting their authority and confining their power to take actions on their own. While most of the issues coming to the women police station are related to domestic violence, harassment, child abuse etc., which are better understood by women as compared to men, women police are not able to register the complaint by themselves. They have to send the complaint to the men police station where they have to explain the issue again to the male constable. Women police themselves want to get the authority to register FIRs and take action on their own, as one of the women police commented;
‘Women know women better and they have sympathies and can relate to them. So, it would be better that we get the chance to listen to the complaint and take the required action on our own.’
When they were asked what else they do when they can’t take any action or register the FIR, one of then narrated;
Judiciary which has been given the mandate of hearing the pleas of women if they face any violence is acting as a puppet. Trial courts are supposed to give the verdict within three months of the institution of the FIR [First Information Report] while sometimes three more months are provided to decide upon the appeal. Defense and prosecution lawyers are not allowed to discuss the past or the character of a woman rape victim. New legislation has ensured a quick trial of rape cases, but enforcement is still lacking [
From our interviews of a broad set of stakeholders dealing with GBV issues, we can start to see some of the major gaps and challenges in how GBV is handled in Pakistan. These include low competence and awareness of GBV issues, lack of knowledge of women’s rights and protection legislation, poor capacity, coordination and collaboration between multiple stakeholders, lack of SOPs which involve multiple actors involved in GBV response and prevention. From our analysis, we see that clear mechanisms need to be chalked out that not only connect the relevant actors involved in dealing, preventing and mitigating GBV but also help clarifying their roles and responsibilities to avoid overlap and confusion. We also found that there is no official documentation of any mechanisms at any level related to GBV. No SOPs are formulated, and documentation maintained.
After detailed discussion with all the relevant actors we see the scope of ICT in not only enhancing the efficiency and capacity of the institutions involved but also individuals that are working in the system. Rather than developing a reporting application, which already is covered by hotlines and digital FIRs, a resource application would be more helpful in this complex setting. An application can be designed to assist and guide relevant actors but also act as a resource to link to existing applicationss, helplines, and relevant training material on GBV. Most of the existing reporting apps are owned by police and police departments are vigilantly working with people to spread awareness about their usage and the services they are providing. However, there is a dire need that provincial and district government launches such well-coordinated and well-informed system, because what we learnt in our research is that lack of political will creates irreconcilable impediments in mechanisms. For instance, the main issue Khuwand e kor faced at district level is lack of resources and political will to deal with GBV cases. Community members who are part of district level committees could not manage to stay intact without any economic benefit. People used to travel long distance to join meetings could not spend 1000 RS from their pockets just to attend the meeting. Volunteerism becomes difficult when there is poverty and no support from the government. Therefore, the staff of KK was very supportive of the idea to develop a mechanism/app that can connect all the relevant stakeholders together. They also suggested to develop a resource app where all the relevant laws, ordinances, training materials, and phones numbers of relevant actors are combined. The app should be designed in a way that local government officer should be part of it because ownership from the government is very important. When it comes to the police, in rural and semi urban areas police are often used as a political pawn and sensitive cases like GBV often used as political tool to gain fame by local politicians. Either local politicians increase their vote banks by creating hype around these issues or totally suppress the cases to win support of local gentry. In the former case the confidentiality of the victims and the families is compromised which further complicates the situation. Therefore, according to local activists the launching of app might help in execution of these cases smoothly and confidentially. However, they emphasized that local district management, and NGOs working on the issue should be part of the app; police should not be the major actor because police are not capable enough to deal with such sensitive issues. When local activists were asked about the use of ICT in their own work, they were in full support of launching, for example, an application that could connect a common person with the authorities through local community organizations where they can instantly report the incident and also track the progress of the complaint. One of the local activists said that an application might save time and also help in escaping the political pressure that comes with such sensitive cases. Police officers also supported the introduction of ICT in the system that can help in mitigating and preventing GBV at grass root level. Some community members have also used technology to support their situation. There was, for example, a young woman who was educated till 10th standard, whose husband and in-laws were abusive. She endured the torture for some time, but since she had a smartphone and was well connected to her friends, she got to know about helpline services that were established to help women in abusive marriages. She launched a complaint against her husband and her husband was arrested. This incident created swirl in her village and the adjacent villages. When we asked about what happened after police arrested the husband, many said he was set free because the wife only wanted to threaten him.
There remain, however, many challenges in employing technology in a context where internet access, literacy and capacity is limited, and where people may not have experience using ICTs, or they have negative experiences. Also, the use of ICTs for GBV is something very new, and difficult for many people to grasp without being part of a reform process. As a part of our interviews, we asked both men and women in the communities to tell us if in their view ICT can help in solving and preventing the issue of GBV. It was initially very difficult for us to explain to women what we mean by ICT and how it might be relevant to GBV, however, once it was clear women came up with different opinions. Majority of the women we spoke to were uneducated and poor. They didn’t have access to smart phones, internet and had mobility issues. One of the women said, ‘‘If we are given good work and our economic condition becomes better, the violence will be controlled too. The app cannot help us as much a money can’’. Similarly, there was another woman who quoted the incident of Kohistan [
Women is Pakistan faces domestic violence menace whether she lives in urban area or rural. According to the Human Rights Watch, gender-based violence occurs as a cause and consequence of gender inequities. GBV includes a range of violent acts mostly committed by men against women within the context of the subordinate status of females in society. When men were asked about the importance and relevance of ICT in the prevention of GBV, they had mixed responses. Some of them couldn’t place the issue of GBV as a social issue as discussed above, and therefore did not see how ICT would be relevant.
Similarly, the doctors were dismissive of the idea of using IT in handling of GBV cases. According to them most of the cases which are reported or come to hospital are from very low socio/economic strata. These people do not have access to internet and smart phone. IT might not help these victims. In addition, there are more important steps that are required to be taken than making ICT the part of the whole process. For example, the mechanism of handling GBVs at hospitals, police stations and other relevant departments is not documented properly. Similarly, the SOPs of the doctors in emergency and on call during such cases are not documented /formulated. Doctors themselves feel insure/insecure while handling such cases. There are many incidents where mob attacked doctors and threatened them. Doctors want some concrete safety measures for themselves. In addition, ICT and related information and capacity building is not recognized by the system at large and also by the professionals who are working within these systems. During the interviews mostly doctors couldn’t understand ICT. Courses on community and research methodology taken by doctors during their five-year MBBS study, for example, have no ICT component. In addition, the Welfare department and
In our research we identified the relevant actors involved in the GBV prevention mechanism and explored their roles and responsibilities, strengths and weaknesses, and the possibilities of using ICTs to improve coordination and response to Gender-Based Violence. From these interviews, we learned that the Pakistan police have limited competence in dealing with GBV issues, particularly at police station levels. They lack knowledge of laws, and of their role in dealing with victims and prevention. Both government institutions and civil society organizations are quite concerned with GBV and have taken a series of measures to address it. However, these measures tend to be more rhetorical than practical, and more concrete legal, institutional, administrative and practical mechanisms are required by all stakeholders. Nevertheless, some good work has been done on GBV, particularly by civil society organizations. For example, one NGO working with GBV for over 10 years developed a mechanism at the community level where local men and women formed village, union and tehsil level committees, and started intensive community awareness sessions on the issue. The NGO assisted these committees in creating linkages with police stations and lawyers, and they were often trained together to create a common understanding of the issues. However, there is a clear challenge to include district management into this mechanism, as the local government is often unwilling to adjust existing practices without the buy-in from higher levels. And while such NGO efforts are promising, most of the work is isolated, scattered and has not led to a comprehensive approach and policy for handling GBV cases. In addition to learning how GBV is understood, our research has explored new ways of thinking about the use of ICTs for GBV response and prevention. It is commonly believed that the main way that ICT can be used to support survivors is through the establishment of hotlines and reporting apps. Our research shows, however, that these are only accessible to small number of urban-based women. There remain many barriers for survivors to use such options—and they cannot necessarily ensure the safety of survivors in the response system. There is instead a need to combine ICTs with the strengthening of social networks where men and women can find safe spaces within the communities to go and share their issues, and be sure that they will receive the help and support needed to keep them safe. Those on the front lines dealing with GVB survivors, such as police, local health workers, teachers, and village activists, can develop these support networks, however they lack access to information and guidance on dealing with GBV issues in a coordinated manner. Even if they have participated in the few trainings available, follow-up is difficult. This is an area where ICTs could contribute as they could offer access to both information and guidance for each actor dealing with GVB, whether it is for response or prevention. But what is needed is real political will to invest in mechanisms that can truly make a difference.
This research is a part of the Community-Based Policing and Post-Conflict Police Reform research project (ICT4COP), funded under the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, grant agreement No 653909.
After recognizing its importance Pakistan has committed to end all kinds of violence against its citizens irrespective of gender, race, and religion. The Government of Pakistan recognizes that violence against women is a form of sex discrimination and that this is against the basic fundamentals of the Constitution of 1973 and has established a separate ministry of Women Development (MOWD) in 1989; to protect women and their rights. Similarly, Pakistan adopted Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1996 and International Convention against Torture and other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT) (Parveen, 2011). For details see \urlhttp://www.cpdi-pakistan.org/ and \urlhttps://www.justice.gov/
The Act amended to define karokari as murder, It gave a definition of the crime of `honor' killing in the law that was absent in the PPC, Also, giving a woman in marriage or otherwise as badli-i-sulh has been specifically forbidden and a punishment has been prescribed in the law; Power to suspend or remit sentences in the case of honors crimes has been taken away from provincial governments. Women Protection Act was promulgated in 2006; it excludes several provisions of the Hudood Ordinance and re-introduces them into Pakistan Penal Code 1860. The Eighteenth Constitutional (Amendment) Act, 2010 has redefined the structural contours of the state through a paradigm shift from a heavily centralized to a predominantly decentralized federation. In so far as the application of Human Rights is concerned, the Federal Ministry of Human Rights has the primary responsibility of reporting on the ratified international Conventions, as the coordinating body and to liaise with the provinces on human rights to ensure their coherence and alignment with international obligations. However, after the enactment of the Eighteenth Constitution (Amendment) Act, 2010, many responsibilities have been entrusted to provincial governments including implementation at the provincial level of international Human Rights treaties to which Pakistan is signatory. For details see kp.gov.pk / swkpk.gov.pk/ rutgerswpfpak.org
Important National Legislation adopted by Pakistan in light of its International Human Rights obligations are: The Women in Distress and Detention Fund Act 1996, The Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act, 2010, The Criminal Law Second Amendment (Acid and Burn) Act, 2011, The Women in Distress and Detention Fund (Amendment) Act 2011, National Commission for Human Rights Act 2012, and Criminal Law (Amendment) (Offences in the name or pretext of Honour) Act 2016.
The 18$^th$ Amendment (2010) devolved significant fiscal and political power to the provinces.
Historically, there was very little attention to the rights of women and girls, with the exception of the Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929.
Arab News (2019) \urlhttps://www.arabnews.pk/node/1601636/pakistan
A tehsil is an administrative division consisting of an area of land with a city or town that serves as its headquarters, with possible additional towns, and usually a number of villages.
God in this world.
Sayings of Prophet.
Currently all the activities of KK are suspended due to non-extension of NOC (Non-Objection Certificate).
Police station.
District resolution counsels.
The capital city of Hazara Division.
One of the poorest and underprivileged districts of Hazara Division