Media's role stressed against gender-based violence

A one-day workshop on Institutional Strengthening and Awareness Raising to combat extreme forms of gender based violence, organised by Family Planning Association of Pakistan with the collaboration of United Nations Office on Special Project Services (UNOPS) was held here.
Addressing the workshop the Project Manager, Gender Base Violation, Junaid Swati, said that the current era is an epoch media which had gained unprecedented popularity among the masses and its outreach has enhanced substantially.
The media has become a powerful and popular tool for creating widespread awareness among the masses and under prevailing circumstances the role of media has become more imperative in creating awareness about human rights violation and gender base violations in the society, he said.
He said that it is heartening to note that media has been playing its front foot role in highlighting the issues of human rights violations especially the ugly incidents of burning of women, rape cases, karo kari, etc.
But it is being felt that the projection of such cases has remained focused on happenings and tragedies and not towards creating awareness about preventive measures and implementation of the relevant clauses of law like the newly incorporated section 174-A Cr.P.C is direly needed, he added.
He said that media could play a vital role in highlighting the relief this particular section 174-A Cr.P.C and other relevant clauses of law protecting basic human rights as well as protecting the women in distress provide to victims the message could be spread in a effective way for creating the awareness among the masses.
Swati said that the aim of holding of training workshops and seminars was to create awareness among the masses with the active support of media in the country. Media should focus on newly incorporated section 174-A Cr.P.C. and efforts should be made for including this particular section in the law, he added.
Khalid Mehmood Qurashi, Regional Director, Family Planning Association of Pakistan, said that media could play a vital role not only in elimination of domestic violation, sexual harassment, and humiliating the women but also can create awareness among the masses about these growing evils. Due attention and co-operation of media would help in creating general awareness about section 174-A Cr.P.C and in eradicating criminal activities against women, he added.
The Chairman of Pakistan Council for Social Welfare and Human Rights, Ijaz Noori, stressed the need of holding workshops and seminars should be made a regular feature for creating general awareness about the social evils like sexual harassment, child abuse and human rights violations among the masses. He said that collective efforts of media, members of civil society and law enforcing agencies were direly needed for purging these evils from the society.