"Over 3,000 women were killed in acts of violence in Pakistan between 2005-07", Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) has added a course on Violence against Women in its curriculum to train the undergraduates in diagnosing the violence affected patients in OPD and emergency ward.
This was stated by Professor Nusrat H. Khan, Head of the Department Gynae Unit III, Civil Hospital Karachi, DUHS in a seminar on "Elimination of Violence Against Women" held at DUHS. The seminar was conducted to create awareness about violence against women among general public and medical professionals so that a resistance to this disgraceful practice can be created in the society.
Professor Nusrat Khan said the constitution of Pakistan had given a right to women that she should not be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. "Medical professionals, with proper training in this regard, can play a very effective role in breaking the cycle of violence by providing right consultancy and treatment to the violence victims," she mentioned.
She said main barriers to address violence included lack of technical competence and resources, cultural stereotypes and negative social attitudes, institutional constraints and most importantly women's reluctance to disclose violence.
She added that under the article 3 of United Nation General Assembly resolution 48/104, women were entitled to equal enjoyment and protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, and civil or any other field.
She further said Pakistan Penal Code contained detailed provisions relating to almost all acts of violence and article 25 of the Constitution, provided protection to all citizens regardless of gender. Professor Nusrat Khan said that in spite of that the ratio of torture on women was increasing in Pakistan, while in the last three years alone 51 cases of acid throwing on women and 45 cases of stove burning had been reported.
Dr Momna Khan of Gynae Unit III of Civil Hospital Karachi said the preventive spectrum of violence against women could be broadened by promoting community education, strengthening individual knowledge and skills, changing organisational practices and influencing policies of legislation.
She stressed that government, general public, health care providers and other non-governmental organisations should effectively play their role to take initiatives to control violence against women.
Dr Momna said especially medical practitioners should be more proactive in questioning women about violence as it was a fact that doctors were not skilled at recognising the violence and had been estimated to diagnose only one battered woman out of 25.7 on an average.
Advising the Doctors' community, Dr Momna said: "A medical consultant should create safe and supportive environment for violence victim by actively listening to their problems." "If there are visible or suspected injuries or indicators of risk to the women's safety, it is better to sensitively ask her directly about this in private" she added. "Moreover, if the woman tells you that she has experienced any form of violence, check on her immediate safety, and offer her appropriate referrals," she said.
She added that it was very important for a medical professional to provide and discuss care and treatment options with the violence affected women and not to record information about disclosures of violence in the hand held record without her permission.
Dr Momna said the prime step should be to educate men that their masculinity could be used in a healthy and positive way instead of in violence and sexual assaults. Dr Rehma said Pakistan was one of the six countries with the highest rate of violence against women. "Here a woman is facing violence in the form of childhood sex abuse, early marriages and early pregnancy, sexual harassment domestic violence and child labour." In domestic violence 45 percent women are slapped, kicked, beaten while about 75 percent battered women try to commit suicide.
She added that about 55 percent women perceived violence as normal part of their marriages and around 77 percent men felt that their masculinity threatened if their wives would not listen to them. Speaking on this occasion Dr Nusrat Shah, Asst Professor Gynae III, said the seminar was an excellent opportunity for the medical community to join hands with the society at large to stop discrimination and injustice committed against women of Pakistan.
She said doctors should take the lead in influencing the government and the media to pay more importance to women's rights and issues, as they closely influenced the women health and a very high maternal and peri-natal mortality statistics.
She said that according to World Health Organisation (WHO) the maternal mortality in Pakistan was 500/100,000 live births, which was one of the highest in the world. Moreover for every maternal death many more women suffer serious complications.
She stressed on the fact that those deaths related more to socio-economic causes and women right issues rather than medical causes. She said people in Pakistan paid more importance to culture and tradition rather than religion. In this context, she quoted a number of Ahadith relating to the equal rights of the female child and the women.
On this occasion, Professor Saeed Qureshi, Medical Superintendent, Civil Hospital Karachi, Professor Gufrana Umar Memon, the Dean, Faculty of Surgery and Dr M Saleem Ilyas, Director Medical and Allied, Professional Development Centre, DUHS also spoke.-PR