Chief justice Asif Saeed Khosa announced on Wednesday that Pakistan government plans to establish more than 1,000 courts addressing violence against women. The special courts would allow victims to speak out without fear.
Pakistan sees thousands of cases of violence against women every year, from rape and acid attacks to sexual assault, kidnappings, and so-called honour killings.
“We are going to have 1,016 gender-based violence courts across Pakistan, at least one such court apiece in every district,” Khosa said in an address to fellow judges
“The atmosphere of these courts will be different from other courts so that complainants can speak their heart without any fear in the conservative Muslim country,” he said.
The country was ranked the sixth most dangerous for women in a Thomson Reuters Foundation a survey of global experts last year.
The new courts will operate in existing courthouses but will hold domestic violence hearings separately from other cases to enable victims to testify in confidence.
Local high court chief justice Mansoor Ali Shah said at the time that women were the most vulnerable members of society and that one in every three had been a victim of physical or psychological violence.
Human rights campaigners said the Lahore court had been a success and welcomed the move to expand the programme.
Romana Bashir, who heads the Peace and Development Foundation, a non-governmental organization working on women’s rights, said it was “a wonderful safeguarding measure”.
“Certainly women will be encouraged and feel strengthened to speak up against gender-based violence. Consequently, women will be able to get justice,” she said.
Fauzia Viqar, a women’s rights campaigner who advised the Punjab government until last month, said studies had shown the performance of such dedicated courts to be “many times better than other courts”.
>Juthy Saha
