ADB-UN Women report: Honour killings: real figure may be much higher than reported

With no official figures on honour killings in Pakistan, it is estimated that the real figure could be much higher than what is reported as many such incidents are believed to be disguised as accidents or go unreported by family members.
This has been stated in a joint report of Asian Development Bank (ADB) and UN Women titled "Gender Equality and the Sustainable Development Goals in Asia and the Pacific," which further said that Afghanistan and Pakistan have particularly high rates of honour killings. However, the annual figures are unreliable. To a large extent, there remains a culture of impunity. In 2015, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan reported that 1,096 women were killed for honour (170 were minors aged under 18).
The report states the HIV epidemic remains a challenge in Asia and the Pacific despite the remarkable decline in new infections in most countries. However, Cambodia, Pakistan and the Philippines have increasing infection rates. Of the 5.1 million people living with HIV in the region, 1.8 million are women and girls.
The South and South-West Asian and Pacific countries have the highest unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) mortality rates, with 34.6 and 20.7 deaths per 100,000 in Afghanistan and Pakistan, respectively, attributed to unsafe WASH services.
The report further states that gaps remain between the total fertility rate and wanted fertility rate (in countries for which data is available such as Pakistan, Samoa and Vanuatu), indicating that women's need for family planning in the region remains unfulfilled.
Children living in cities, with better educated mothers, and from wealthiest households are most likely to survive. Of 50 countries with data, 33 have under-5 mortality rates lower than 30 deaths per 1,000 live births. Yet, Afghanistan (at 91.1 deaths per 1,000 births) and Pakistan (81.1 deaths) are well above the sub-regional average.
On the other hand, Palau and Pakistan have the largest disparity in favour of boys, who are enrolled at 100 per cent compared to 81.1 per cent and 87.2 per cent of girls, respectively. Across four Asian countries (Bangladesh, the People's Republic of China, Mongolia and Pakistan), around 90 per cent of women perform unpaid care and domestic work, compared to 31 to 75 per cent of men.
Approximately 83 per cent of Bangladeshi women and 73 per cent of Pakistani women report that responsibility for domestic work is the main reason they are not engaging in paid work. Women spend 11 times more time than men in unpaid care and domestic work in Pakistan, compared to New Zealand where women spend 1.7 times more in unpaid care and domestic work. Many factors influence the unpaid time and relative burdens among women and men.
These include not only social norms and demographic factors, but also public policies related to employment, subsidization of childcare and other care services, parental leave, and public infrastructure that saves time, such as water, sanitation and energy.
At the workplace, women's share of managerial positions across Asia and the Pacific varies widely. While women fill 47.5 per cent of managerial positions in the Cook Islands, just 3 per cent of these positions are held by women in Pakistan.
Some 83 per cent of Bangladeshi women and 73 per cent of Pakistani women report that responsibility for household work is the reason why they are not engaging in paid work, while 10 per cent of Bangladeshi and 3 per cent of Pakistani men responded the same.
The Global Climate Risk Index ranks Bangladesh, Myanmar, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam among the top 10 countries most affected by weather-related loss events, including floods, storms and heat waves, between 1996 and 2015. The World Risk Index concludes that 9 of the 15 countries most at-risk of disaster are in Asia and the Pacific, which is also home to 22 of the 58 Small Island Developing States - recognised to be acutely vulnerable to climate change.
During and in the aftermath of disasters, many women and girls face heightened risk of violence, which is exacerbated where disasters cause significant population displacement, for instance the 2010 floods in Pakistan.
Gender-based violence is also exacerbated where disasters cause significant population displacement. Women displaced by the 2010 floods in Pakistan reported sexual harassment and those practicing veil (screening themselves from men) described feeling vulnerable, exposed and threatened by the presence of unknown men.