Women’s Action Forum (WAF) has condemned the “reprehensible attack” at Minar-e-Pakistan, Lahore. The statement of condemnation came a day after FIR was registered against 400 unidentified men for assaulting a woman.
“This is yet another painful reminder that women and girls are not safe in Pakistan, and that public spaces are increasingly becoming breeding grounds for harassment, violence, and abuse inflicted upon women. We are horrified by the inhumane behaviour the men at Minar-e-Pakistan displayed and that too on Independence day, which reflects the free reign men in this country possess to behave violently without facing any form of accountability,” the press release shared by the forum stated.
The statement also shed light on the irresponsible reporting of the incident by the local media. “Interviews given by the survivor on digital media has clearly shown how trauma is also being used to create sensationalism and it is important to remember that clips of her being mass groped may continue to haunt her in years to come.”
The forum called on Chief Minister of Punjab Usman Buzdar, IGP Punjab Inam Ghani and DC Mudassir Riaz Malik “for their blatant neglect towards women’s safety in public spaces, and for failing to provide the adequate measures that should have been in place to prevent such a dreadful incident from occurring.”
WAF is a non-partisan, non-hierarchical and non-funded women’s rights group.
