KARACHI (PPI) - Growing violence against women is one of the most sensitive issues facing Pakistan. It not only robes women of their due rights as equal citizen and human being, but also affects the development of the country by not allowing half of its population to fully participate in socio-economic activities. The constitution of Pakistan guarantees equal rights to every citizen irrespective of their gender, but due to the yawning gap between enactment and implementation of laws, even the constitutional guarantee could not provide hapless Pakistani women their due rights. Rampant poverty, low literacy, prolonged dictatorial rules, tribal-feudal mindset of society, and growing religious extremism and dogmatism might include a host of factors escalating violence in Pakistan; however, women are the ultimate sufferers. Madadgaar, Pakistans first helpline for women and children has been collecting and compiling data on violence against women for last 10 year. Based in Karachi, Madadgaar is a joint project of UNICEF and Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Aid (LHRLA). It is running three women helplines in Hyderabad, Sukkur and Larkana in collaboration with GJP-UNDP. This unique helpline not only swiftly responds to the distress calls of women and children and offer them immediate assistance with help of its referral partners, but its data section also monitors 18 English, Urdu and Sindhi newspapers daily and compiles exhaustive data on violence against women and children. Madadgaar data shows that during last 10 years (Jan 2000 - Dec 2009) as many as 75039 cases of violence against women were reported by mainstream print media. They include 13520 cases of murder, 542 cases of rape and murder, 4762 cases of rape, 2200 cases of gang rape, 15612 cases of torture, 7676 cases of Karo-kari, 2207 cases of burn victims, 12851 cases of kidnapping, 1495 cases of police torture, 10766 cases of suicide, 890 cases under Hudood, 961 cases of human trafficking, 629 cases of forces marriages and 1018 cases of Vani. Of these cases 45,745 cases were reported from Punjab province, 19720 cases from Sindh, 2857 cases from Balochistan and 6737 from the NWFP. The less number of violence against women cases from Balochistan and the NWFP province does not mean that situation of women rights is better there, but due to the dominant tribal-feudal mindset, social and cultural taboos, and poor access to media, a lot of cases are not even reported in these backward areas of Pakistan. The violence against women is on alarming rise in the country. Last year (2009) as many as 7333 cases of violence against women were complied by Madadgaar database section, which include 1052 murders, 71 rape murders, 352 rapes, 265 gang rapes, 1452 torture cases, 185 burn cases, 1198 kidnappings, 236 police tortures, 1011 suicides, 49 Hudood cases, 177 human trafficking cases, 140 forces marriages and 174 Vani cases. Their provincial breakdown is - Balochistan 385 cases, the NWFP 945 cases, Punjab 3652 cases, and Sindh 2351 cases. Human rights lawyer and president of Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Aid (LHRLA) Zia Ahmed Awan said today when we are celebrating the World Womens Day we have very little to rejoice, as the state of violence against women in Pakistan is still worrisome. He said all stakeholders of society must have to redouble their efforts to wipe the blemish of gender-based violence from the face of our country. He said a holistic and broad-based approach is needed to tackle the violence against women issue, adding the govt has a decisive role to play in this regard. He said without further improving laws related to gender justice and equality, coupled with their strict implementation, we cannot achieve our target of making Pakistan a tolerant and open-minded society, free from all types of biases against women and with equal rights available to all citizens irrespective of their gender.