ISLAMABAD: With the total number of registered voters reaching 112.39 million, the gap between male and female voters has climbed to 12.72 million.

A document on the latest voters’ statistics exclusively available with Dawn shows that the number of male and female voters across the country stood at 62.55m (55.66 per cent) and 49.83m (44.34pc), respectively. The number of transgender people on the electoral rolls comes to 2,489 (0.002pc).

The document reveals that Punjab accounts for a gender gap of 6.73m — more than the three other provinces and the federal capital combined. The total number of registered voters in Punjab is 64.35m — 35.54m (55.23pc) male and 28.80m (44.77pc) female voters. Voters from the province include 1,851 transgender persons.

In Sindh, the total number of registered voters is 23.64m — 13.10m (55.41pc) male and 10.54m (44.58pc). The gap between male and female voters comes to 2.56m.The number of transgender people registered as voters in the province stands at 421.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the number of registered voters is 18.95m — 10.81m (57.08pct) male and 8.13m (42.92pc) female. The gender gap stands at 2.68m. The number of transgender voters in the province is 127.

The number of registered voters in Balochistan is 4.63m — 2.66m (57.55pc) male and 1.9m (42.45pc) female voters. The gender gap stands at 0.699m.

In Islamabad, the number of registered voters is 803,538 — 422,639 (52.60pc) male and 380,892 (47.40pc) female voters. This means the federal capital has the highest proportion of women voters, compared to the four provinces. As many as seven transgender persons are enrolled as voters in the federal area.

In the 2013 general election, the gap between male and female voters was 10.99m, which jumped to 11.65m in September 2015, at the start of the local government elections.

There were 86.18m registered voters in 2013 — 48.59m (56.37pc) men and 37.59m (43.62pc) women. The figures released in September 2015 showed that the number of registered voters had gone up to 93.07m.There were 52.36m (56.26pc) male and 40.70m (43.73pc) female voters, which meant the registration of women had not kept pace with that of men.

After revision of the electoral rolls in 2016, the number reached 97.01m — 54.59m (56.27pc) male and 42.42m (43.72pc) female voters.

The number of voters prior to the 2018 elections was 97.01m — 54.5m men and 42.42m women.

After revision of the electoral rolls in September 2018, the number reached 106m — 59.24m (55.89pc) male and 46.75m (44.11pc) female voters.

The statistics released in April 2019 showed the number of voters going up to 108m. They included 60.40m (55.80pc) male and 47.82m (44.19pc) female voters. Since then another over four million have been added to the electoral rolls.

Two districts of Punjab — Lahore and Faisalabad — account for a difference of over one million in male and female voters. The gap in Lahore is over 0.600m and that in Faisalabad more than 0.470m.

The 20 districts with the largest gender gaps include 17 districts in Punjab, two in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and one in Sindh.

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Islamabad: To improve collection, compiling, production and use of standardised data for reporting on the country’s national and international commitments and guiding informed policy on gender equality, the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) and UN Women Pakistan have initiated the development of a National Gender Data Portal.

First of its kind in Pakistan, the Portal will fill data gaps at a national level, bringing together data from across the country and collating it centrally. It will provide a dynamic platform for data collection and analysis that would be instrumental for improving gender mainstreaming in legislative, policy and programmatic interventions using an evidence-based approach.

National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) has been engaged as the technical partner for developing this data portal which is expected to be launched very soon, said a statement issued by UN Women Pakistan.

Lack of reliable, comprehensive and consistent national data that could help decision-makers better understand the situation, assess areas where challenges and gaps persist and undertake appropriate measures to solve them is an important factor that contributes towards the poor status of women in Pakistan.

Trends indicate that, globally, 80 percent of indicators for gender equality across Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are lacking data. Pakistan needs comprehensive localized data for effective implementation, monitoring and reporting of international commitments on gender equality including Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and SDGs. With the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is now critical to have sex-disaggregated data for informed and inclusive response and recovery plans to deal with this global humanitarian crisis.

In the first meeting of the Technical Review Group for portal held recently, the partners dilated on various aspects and discussed key indicators to be included in the portal. Federal Secretary Ministry of Human Rights Rabiya Javeri Agha, who participated in the virtual meeting, said, “The National Gender Data Portal is a great initiative by NCSW and UN Women Pakistan, which the Ministry of Human Rights fully supports and we look forward to linking this with Human Rights Management Information System, in which we have included all provinces.”

Pakistan stands out with a high degree of gender inequality in terms of opportunities, resources, and facilities available to girls and women, that cuts across all classes, sectors, and regions of the country. Pakistan ranks 151 out of 153 in the latest Gender Gap report developed by the World Economic Forum which highlights the need to address the challenges using evidence-based interventions.

This need has come up time and again for collecting, collating, integrating and disseminating data on gender indicators using dynamic tools that would inform and align policies for targeted interventions. Various streams of datasets exist at the national and provincial levels, these need to be integrated through a comprehensive platform that can generate analysis and reports for guiding policymakers and other stakeholders to advance the gender equality agenda.

Aisha Mukhtar, Country Representative a.i. UN Women Pakistan, highlights the importance of a centralized database: “Gender statistics is not just about sex-disaggregated data. We need gender statistics to highlight areas where progress is made, provide evidence of change and identify gaps that need to be addressed. The National Gender Data Portal is about improving availability and use of gender statistics for policy action.”

Humera Azam Khan, Secretary NCSW, describing lack of standardized data for national and international reporting as well as policy advice as a serious gap, says, “This data portal will help in conducting regular analysis on the status of women in the country. Once completed, it will be a landmark achievement.”

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ISLAMABAD: Days after the anno­u­­nc­ement of delimitation schedule for local government polls in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a massive shake-up in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has redeployed dozens of its officers.

A significant feature of the reshuffle is that all the four provinces will now have at least one woman district election commissioner (DEC) for the first time in the country’s history.

Those transferred and posted include four female officers — one each from the four provinces.

Shaheen Ghazal, the DEC of Multan II, has been transferred and posted as DEC, Rawalpindi II.

Azra Mahesar, currently serving as the DEC, Malir, Karachi, will assume charge as the DEC of Thatta.

Safya Akbar, deputy director at the Regional Election Commission, KP, Peshawar, has been posted as the DEC of Charsadda.

Likewise, Aliya Nazar, deputy director at the Provincial Election Commission, Balochistan, Quetta, has been posted as the DEC of Pishin.

In all, as many as 65 officials of the ECP have been transferred under a notification issued on Thursday. They include four from the ECP secretariat in Islamabad, 17 from Punjab, 14 from Sindh, 18 from KP and 12 from Balochistan.

Tanvir Ahmad Khan, private secretary to the ECP secretary, has been appointed as the DEC of Hafizabad.

The Deputy Director (Establis­hment II), Mohammad Saeed, has been transferred to the office of PEC, KP, Peshawar.

He has been replaced by Bilal Akram, a newly promoted assistant director on acting charge.

Abdul Wadood Khan, a newly promoted assistant director at the ECP secretariat, has been appointed as deputy director (confidential).

The Director at PEC, Punjab, Lah­ore, Abdul Hameed, has been posted as the regional election commissioner (REC) of Sahiwal. The sitting REC of Sahiwal, Tahir Mansoor Khan, will assume charge as director at the PEC, Punjab, in Mr Hameed’s place.

In Sindh, the REC of Karachi Ali Asghar Siyal been posted as the REC of Thatta.

Syed Nadeem Haider, currently serving as the REC of Hyderabad, will be new regional election commissioner of Karachi.

Sain Baloch, director at PEC, Sindh, Karachi, will assume charge as the REC of Hyderabad.

Syed Waseem Ahmad Jafari, presently posted as the REC of Thatta, has been transferred and posted as director at the PEC, Sindh.

In Balochistan, Abdullah, currently serving as director at the PEC, has been appointed as the REC of Quetta. Fayyaz Hussain Murad, the incumbent REC of Quetta, will join as director at the PEC, Balochistan.

Rest of the officers have either been posted out of the provincial election commissions to assume charge as district election commissioners or were already serving as DECs and have been posted to some other station.

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Karachi, Wednesday 07 March 2018 (PR): On the occasion of international day for women, Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI) has termed protection of social and political rights of women necessary to envision democratic, peaceful, inclusive and gender-equitable political system in Pakistan.

International day for women is being celebrated all around the world to acknowledge women’s achievements throughout history and across nations. CPDI, a civil society organization, that promotes women participation and all inclusive electoral processes in Pakistan, on the same day has urged the government to protect women’s political rights and forge visibility of women in electoral processes.

  Raja Shoaib Akbar, Senior program manager while expressing his views on celebration of women’s day said, “The Constitution of Pakistan asserts the protection of fundamental human rights and protection of women’s rights under national legislation.

Article 25 clearly guarantees equality before the law and states that there shall be no discrimination on the basis of gender.

He added, the Chapter on Principles of Policy – Article 32 and 34 also ensures full participation of women in all spheres of national life. Even after this, the stage for women voters turn out and women participation in political decision making is pale.

According to Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the total number of registered voters in Pakistan has reached to 97.02 million including 54.4 male and 42.2 female voters.

He said that the situation is perturbing as the gap between the number of male and female voters has crossed 12 million.

While there is global movement striving for gender parity, Government of Pakistan should also take exclusive measures to ensure maximum participation of women in electoral matters.”

Stats of CPDI’s election observation in PP20 Chakwal, NA 154 Lodhran and most recent PP30 Sargodha reveal that women participation in political process remains below average and insufficient.

At the polling station 94 in Sargodha PP30 by elections, it was reported that the male household heads had strictly prohibited their women to cast vote.

CPDI pronounces that this is the classic example of dominant, discriminatory and patriarchal mindset which is the biggest hurdle in way of women’s political participation in Pakistan.

As mentioned in the Election Act 2017 (sec 9), If the turnout of women voters is less than 10% of the total votes polled in a constituency, the Commission may declare, polling at one or more polling stations or election in the whole constituency, void.

Sequential to this, ECP may take straight-out measures to ensure the presence of female voters in polling stations to bring women in political decision making. Furthermore CPDI maintained that ECP’s effort to mobilize women voters and the provisions of section 12 (C) of Elections Act 2017 has also not yet paid off.

Stakeholders need to take corrective measures to mainstream women in political life before general elections 2018. CPDI believes that Government of Pakistan and Election Commission of Pakistan shall take effective measure to beat socio-cultural and economic barriers that restrict women’s participation in the political system.

Despite severe obstacles, such as cultural resistance, discrimination patriarchy, religious extremism and religious misconceptions and unequal social power structures, Pakistani women as an individual, shall also continue its strenuous efforts to ride against the tide.

About CPDI: Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI) is an independent, non-partisan and a not-for-profit registered civil society organization working on the issues of Development and Peace in Pakistan. 02

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With another by-election not featuring any woman candidate and a growing gap between registered male and female voters, there is a need to bring women into the political mainstream.

The call was made by the Centre for Peace and Development (CPDI), an independent not-for-profit civil society organisation working on issues of development and peace, on the eve of National Women’s Day.

CPDI noted that since 1983, seven governments have come and gone but there has been no substantial change in the status of women — apart from one that Pakistan got a woman prime minister.

Even as National Women’s Day is observed, a by-election in NA-154 Lodhran-I — where ten candidates are competing for the seat — none of them is a woman.

Moreover, it pointed out that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had unveiled that there were 97.02 million registered voters in Pakistan, of which 54.4 million were men while 42.2 million were women with a gap of over 12 million, a situation which the CPDI termed as perturbing.

Moreover, CPDI’s election observation reports reveal that despite the long struggle of women for political empowerment, their participation in the political process remains well below average.

The most recent example of this was the by-election in PP-20 Chakwal-I where CPDI observed low women voter turnout with 14 women voters on average casting their vote in an hour at sampled female polling booth as compared to 20 men at the male booths in the same time.

“ECP’s effort to mobilise women voters and the provisions of section 12 (C) of Elections Act 2017 have not paid off yet. The stakeholders need to take corrective measures to mainstream women in political life,” CPDI said.

Raja Shoaib Akbar, a senior programme manager at CPDI said that even though women in Pakistan have entered politics, thanks to the quota of reserved seats, the female population and a major segment of society remain alienated from active political participation, a limitation of true representation needs which needs to be taken seriously.

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LAHORE: Accessibility audit of NA-154 polling stations showed distressing statistics as it appeared that 73 percent of the sampled polling stations didn’t meet the essential accessibility criteria.

This implies that persons with disabilities, elderly and the sick will not be able to make it to 73 percent of the polling stations on February 12, 2018 by-election in Lodhran-I.

The report was issued by Pakistan Alliance for Inclusive Elections (PAIE) to share findings of Accessibility Audit of polling stations in NA-154. The exercise is conducted before election day to gauge the opportunities available for persons with disabilities to access polling stations on voting day. A trained team of observers visited polling stations that were selected by a scientifically drawn sample.

According to a press release issued here Friday, the team started assessing the approach to the polling station building; statistics reveal that 17 percent polling stations do not have a firm and obstacle-free passage leading to the building. The 25 percent buildings do not provide a level access to the entrance of polling station and out of these, 92 percent buildings do not possess a ramp to facilitate wheelchair users in entering the polling stations. Observers also witnessed that in 23 percent cases protruding objects were reported outside the polling stations, causing obstacle on the way.

Entrance gates of all sampled polling stations are wider than minimum standard of 32 inches, but as witnessed by credible and experienced auditors of PAIE, usually the smaller gates remain open on election day instead of these larger gates. The larger gates are intentionally closed for legitimate reasons i.e. security and to avoid overcrowding in the polling stations. But the smaller gates possess multiple problems; first, the lesser opening width than minimum standard of 32 inches; second, the iron bar at lower edge of the metal gates that is always thicker than maximum door threshold standard of 6mm, third, the lower edge bar of the gates is generally two to three inches higher than ground causing another obstacle. All these points make it difficult for special persons and the elderly to enter polling stations thus making it inaccessible. If staff does not open larger gates for them on election day then 100 percent polling stations naturally become inaccessible for them. The ECP should make the polling stations precisely more accessible and should be mindful of these minute hurdles. The survey further revealed that the interior building and outer entrance of 65 percent polling stations were not on same level and only 10 percent ramps were reported in set sample size, no other facilities existed to facilitate the movement of special persons.

The study signified that even if the special persons and the elderly cross the main gate of the building 65 percent polling station buildings will still pose challenge and they will have to cross stairs to reach the polling area.

Availability of the light being one of the significant conditions of accessibility criteria, it was reported that only 17 percent of the polling stations possess exterior lighting arrangement, leaving 83 percent sampled polling station entrance unlit at the time of low visibility.

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As expected, Punjab, the most populous province of the country is worst in terms of number of crimes. More than 3400 women faced heinous crimes in the province during first six months of the year. The province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reported lowest number of crimes against women with 202 cases between January 1st to June 30, 2017. Sindh witnessed 1704 crimes in first 10 months of the year while Balochistan reported 354 cases during the same period.

Experts believe reporting of crime is better in Punjab and Sindh which may explain the higher number of recorded crimes in these provinces while in KP and Balochistan, tribal culture and Jirga system discourages women from reporting crimes.

However if we compare the numbers with population of respective provinces under 2017 census, Sindh is worst in terms of violence against women per person with 61 crimes per million people. Punjab witnessed 31 crimes against women per million people while KP witnesses 6.6 crimes per million and Balochistan saw 28.6 crimes per million people.

Pakistani media discussed in detail the murder of Qandeel Baluch, a social media celebrity from southern Punjab who was killed in the name of honor allegedly by his brother and a 16-year-old girl of DI Khan who was paraded naked for his brothers’ alleged “crime”. However a majority of other cases involving violence against women largely remained absent from the discourse on mainstream media during the year.

Punjab:

The data obtained through provincial right to information (RTI) law shows that despite pro-women legislation and increase in women quota in provincial parliament, violent crimes against women are on the rise across Punjab with over 3400 incidents of murder, honor killing, gang rape and acid burning during first six months of 2017. Over all in the province, 87 women were killed in the name of honor in first six months of 2017 alone. As many as 2608 women have been raped, 159 were gang- raped and 337 were murdered so far this year. The province has a population of 110 million according to fresh census conducted this year.

Talking to The News a top government official said the provincial government is fully committed to protect women rights and even Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif himself makes sure that action is taken against culprits involved in heinous crimes.

“Earlier this year the Chief Minister himself visited a 16-year-old victim of the ‘revenge rape’ in Multan which was carried out on the order of a panchayat (informal village council). He suspended the entire police station and also some senior officials for negligence and all the 13 culprits were arrested which shows the resolve of the government against such crime,” says Fauzia Waqar, Chairperson Punjab Commission on the Status of women, a government body aimed at improving women rights in the province.

When asked about highest number of crimes in the country in Punjab she said the province represents 55% population of the country and it has better reporting system. However she admitted that southern Punjab lags behind other parts of the province in terms of women rights owing to lack of education, tribal culture and police mind-set.

“Violence against women is worst in these southern districts despite government efforts to prioritise these areas in development funds,” Ms Waqar said. In Muzaffargarh 25 women were murdered, three killed in the name of honour, 7 gang-raped and 124 raped during first six months of 2017. The district top the chart when it comes to crimes against women with 356 cases for this period surpassing Lahore, the Capital and the most populous district of Punjab which witnessed 219 such crimes during the same period. In Rahim Yar Khan, 297 crimes were committed against women while in Vehari 285 such cases were reported according to police data obtained by Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI). Over all in Punjab, the data shows 337 women have been murdered, 87 killed in the name of honor, 1365 raped and 84 gang-raped between January to June 2017.

“Yes the data shows increase in number of crimes against women in the province but there could be various factors contributing to this phenomenon. Firstly, the population of the province is increasing so the ratio of crime may remain the same but the number will increase. Secondly after the introduction of 18 new laws for the protection of women, more women are encouraged to report violence against them which shows hike in numbers,” Fauzia Waqar said.

She said in southern Punjab police sometime does not report the cases. “We also have feudal mindset in some parts of the province which contributes to crime against women. Overall a lot of work is still needed to be done to ensure protection of women rights in the province,” she said.

The data for the year 2016 shows 7313 crimes against women in the province with Rahim Yar Khan being the most violent district with 636 crimes, followed by Vehari with 615 and Muzaffargarh with 550 crime incidents. The Capital Lahore remained number four with 547 crimes against women.

In 2015, 6505 crimes were reported against women in Punjab whereas Rahim Yar Khan against remained the most violent district with 794 crimes followed by Vehari with 747 incidents and Multan with 659 crimes. Lahore remained number four with 508 incidents and Muzaffargarh remained number five with 326 such crimes.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa:

Although the number of reported crimes against women is lowest in KP, the experts believe the tribal culture and Jirga system discourages many women from reporting crimes against them. The police data obtained from KP shows 202 crimes against women in first six months of this year but surprisingly there is not a single reported incident of sexual or physical harassment in the province. As many as 97 women were murdered in the province during this period while 24 were killed in the name of honor. There were 72 rape cases and six incidents of domestic violence in the province. In comparison, last year’s data show the province witnessed 211 murders, 44 honor killing, 163 rapes and one gang-rape incident along with cases of 24 domestic violence and one acid burning. The province witnessed 112 incidents of physical harassment last year.

Despite repeated attempts the Chairperson of Provincial Commission on Status of Women Neelam Toro did not respond to The News for her version.

However prominent women rights activist in KP, Rukhshanda Naz who is also a member of UN women Civil Society Advisory Group in Pakistan said crimes against women are relatively low in the province due to some cultural reasons. But she admitted low reporting in tribal areas.

“Firstly in tribal areas every household has gun so criminals would think twice before targeting a women in those areas. Secondly, even if the crime against women occurs people will not report it to police and instead go for resolution through a Jirga,” Toro said.

She said the cases of sexual harassment are not reported in the province as there is no mechanism to report such crimes in business or government organisations. When it comes to honor killing, the crime is hidden as the relative would term it suicide, she added.

“Sometime people do not report rape or harassment as they do not trust the justice system. They do not want to get embarrassed in the society especially when they are skeptical about chances of getting justice”, Toro who also runs a civil society organisation “Legal Aid and Awareness Services” said.

Toro said domestic violence is accepted in some parts of KP as symbol of a man’s “power” and “honour”.

She said in the notorious case of parading a 16-year-old girl in Dera Ismail Khan, an influential politician was allegedly involved which made it extremely difficult for the victim to get justice. She stressed the need for proper collection of data on crime against women in the province.

Sindh:

The province witnessed 2934 crimes against women in just 10 months of this year. As many as 57 women were killed in the name of honour during this period while 215 were murdered in Sindh. More than 156 women in Karachi and other parts of Sindh were raped while 47 have been gang-raped so far this year in the province. The province also witnessed 135 kidnapping of women, 1099 abduction and three forced marriages. So far this year, not a single person was convicted for these crimes although 1316 people have been arrested out of total 3553 accused.

Last year, the rural Sindh witnessed 100 incidents of honor killing, 165 rapes and 13 gang rapes, 5 acid attacks and six forced marriages while total crimes against women remained 2817. For all these crimes committed in 2016 just 7 convictions have been made.

While contacted for version, Justice (R) Mrs. Majida Razvi, Chairperson of official Sindh Human Rights Commission said the provincial government is showing political will to fight crime against women but it is facing challenges in implementation.

“Sindh has come up with highest number of women protection laws during last few years but it would take some time to change the mindset in the society,” Justice Razvi said. She said influential people in Sindh do not allow proper prosecution involving crimes against women.

“There is also lack of awareness in police and law enforcement agencies about women rights but the commission is trying to train police in this regard,” she said adding that Jirga system is also a big impediment in improving women rights in the province.

Balochistan:

Although the province witnesses 354 crimes against women during the first 10 months of this year, the per capita crime average is not very encouraging in this province if we compare it to other federating units of Pakistan. The province which has a population of 12.3 million according to 2017 census, witnesses 28.6 crimes against women per million people. According to police data the province witnessed 24 incidents of honour killing, 32 incidents of murders, four of rape and zero incident of gang-rape. The province witnessed 84 incidents of domestic violence. Last year, the province witnessed 371 crimes against women including 43 murders, 31 honour killings, five rapes and one gang-rape. Two incidents of acid throwing and 105 incidents of domestic violence were also reported in 2016.

The human rights expert like Rukhshanda Naz believes the data in Balochistan is highly under-reported owing to tribal culture and volatile law and order situation in the province.

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