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Unknown
Islamabad
This year, to mark the 16 Days of Activism to End Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) in Pakistan, the Acid Survivors Foundation (ASF-Pakistan) has called on Pakistani policy-makers to do more to speed up the passage of the Comprehensive Acid And Burn Crime Bill in the provincial assemblies.
According to the ASF-Pakistan, although the comprehensive Acid and Burn Crime Bill is currently being processed in KP, Punjab and ICT, no provincial assembly had tabled this comprehensive acid and burn legislation yet.
Last year, the ASF-Pakistan with support from the UK’s Department for International Development, led a campaign, which resulted in the unanimous passage of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 2011.
The Criminal Law Amendment Act 2011 made acid and burn violence a crime against the state and imposed fine worth ‘One Million’ Pakistani rupees, along with a punishment of minimum seven (7) years to lifetime imprisonment.
The legal milestone was widely welcomed, but campaigners say it does not go far enough to eradicate acid violence, arguing that legislation needs to go further to include the trial and rehabilitation process. There is also concern that a lack of monitoring mechanisms will jeopardise effective implementation of the law. Over the last seven months, ASF have been pushing provincial assemblies to pass the ‘Comprehensive Acid and Burn Crime Bill’ to strengthen pro women legislation to curb violence against women.
During this years 16 days of activism, ASF will remind policy makers at the ‘Safety at Home, Public and Work Spaces’ event, that the results of past efforts to stop acid violence are not enough and that survivors — mostly women and girls should be able to fully exercise their basic human rights.
The ‘Safety at Home, Public and Work Spaces’ event hosted jointly by UK aid and the AWAAZ consortium, with support of the EVAWG alliance, IHI (Insaan Haqood Itehad), the ‘We Can’ Campaign, UN Women and the UNDP will take place on 6th December.
Acid survivors turned into ‘agents of change’ will be given an opportunity to raise their voice and demand protection, safety and peace. The message they will deliver in the planned event is “our work has just started!”
The UK Government is supporting Pakistan to empower women and girls, to end violence against them, and help Pakistan harness the talent, productivity, and economic dividend of half its population. Recently the UK Government launched a new initiative to help prevent violence against women and girls living around the world. Priorities for the UK aid for women and girls in Pakistan over the next few years include supporting more girls in school; tackling all types of violence against women, including domestic violence and honour killings; enabling more women to vote in elections; support women’s political engagement at all levels; supporting women to be trained in new skills; and helping women access financial services such as micro-loans.
This year, to mark the 16 Days of Activism to End Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) in Pakistan, the Acid Survivors Foundation (ASF-Pakistan) has called on Pakistani policy-makers to do more to speed up the passage of the Comprehensive Acid And Burn Crime Bill in the provincial assemblies.
According to the ASF-Pakistan, although the comprehensive Acid and Burn Crime Bill is currently being processed in KP, Punjab and ICT, no provincial assembly had tabled this comprehensive acid and burn legislation yet.
Last year, the ASF-Pakistan with support from the UK’s Department for International Development, led a campaign, which resulted in the unanimous passage of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 2011.
The Criminal Law Amendment Act 2011 made acid and burn violence a crime against the state and imposed fine worth ‘One Million’ Pakistani rupees, along with a punishment of minimum seven (7) years to lifetime imprisonment.
The legal milestone was widely welcomed, but campaigners say it does not go far enough to eradicate acid violence, arguing that legislation needs to go further to include the trial and rehabilitation process. There is also concern that a lack of monitoring mechanisms will jeopardise effective implementation of the law. Over the last seven months, ASF have been pushing provincial assemblies to pass the ‘Comprehensive Acid and Burn Crime Bill’ to strengthen pro women legislation to curb violence against women.
During this years 16 days of activism, ASF will remind policy makers at the ‘Safety at Home, Public and Work Spaces’ event, that the results of past efforts to stop acid violence are not enough and that survivors — mostly women and girls should be able to fully exercise their basic human rights.
The ‘Safety at Home, Public and Work Spaces’ event hosted jointly by UK aid and the AWAAZ consortium, with support of the EVAWG alliance, IHI (Insaan Haqood Itehad), the ‘We Can’ Campaign, UN Women and the UNDP will take place on 6th December.
Acid survivors turned into ‘agents of change’ will be given an opportunity to raise their voice and demand protection, safety and peace. The message they will deliver in the planned event is “our work has just started!”
The UK Government is supporting Pakistan to empower women and girls, to end violence against them, and help Pakistan harness the talent, productivity, and economic dividend of half its population. Recently the UK Government launched a new initiative to help prevent violence against women and girls living around the world. Priorities for the UK aid for women and girls in Pakistan over the next few years include supporting more girls in school; tackling all types of violence against women, including domestic violence and honour killings; enabling more women to vote in elections; support women’s political engagement at all levels; supporting women to be trained in new skills; and helping women access financial services such as micro-loans.
Posted in: Islamabad
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