Noor Mukadam incident and How to Avoid Sexual and Physical Violence?

DND Thought Centre Report  

Murdered by partner, raped by a partner in live-in, violence, and sexual assault are important points of discussions in Pakistan after the gruesome beheading of a young girl Noor Mukadam in the capital city of Islamabad.

According to writer Shazia Cheema, the beheading of Noor Mukadam actually has exposed crevasses within our Society and realities Pakistani society is not ready to accept and talk about.

There is no doubt that Pakistan has been placed at 8th position in the Most Dangerous Countries list regarding the safety of females but official data of the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) of the United States indicates that every 68 seconds an American is sexually assaulted and one out of every six American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime (14.8% completed, 2.8% attempted). About 3% of American men—or 1 in 33—have experienced an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime.

This data and indicators provided by DND Thought Centres are a collection of already published data at several places.

DND Thought Centre has just gathered them at one place for providing a reference document for further research and readers to understand the gravity of the issue.

Providing international data of crime against women is not to justify that there is no issue if Pakistan is not a safer place for females. However, this data is being provided for ready reference and comparative study.

Some important points gathered by official data of the United States and global sexual assaults indicate that the most dangerous country is Belgium in the developed world regarding sexual assaults.

International data indicate:

• 6,053 military members reported experiencing sexual assault during military service in FY 2018. DoD (Department of Defense) estimates about 20,500 service members (members of armed forces) experienced sexual assault in 2018.
• South Africa has the highest rape rate in the world of 132.4 incidents per 100,000 people. According to a survey conducted by the South African Medical Research Council, approximately one in four men surveyed admitted to committing rape.
• The United States has a rape rate of 27.3 right behind Belgium at 27.90
• Only 9% of rapists in the US get prosecuted, and only 3% of rapists will spend a day in prison. 97% of rapists in the United States will walk free (RAINN, NCVS)

• According to World Population Review in their latest data on rape statistics, 53.6% of global rape incidents originate from 3 countries, the countries are the US, India, and South Africa.

• A total of 87,000 women were intentionally killed in 2017. More than half of them (58 percent) 50,000 ̶ ̶ were killed by intimate partners or other family members, meaning that 137 women across the world are killed by a member of their own family every day.
• More than a third (30,000) of the women intentionally killed in 2017 were killed by their current or former intimate partner ̶ someone they would normally expect to trust.
• On average, there are 463,634 victims (age 12 or older) of rape and sexual assault each year in the United States (NCVS)
• Native Americans are twice as likely to experience a rape/sexual assault compared to all races. (Basically, minorities in the USA are at high risk of rape/sexual assault)
• Sexual violence is difficult to measure, and there is no single source of data that provides a complete picture of the crime anywhere in the world.
• In reference to the United States, we may remember statistics of children under age 12 are not included in National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS).
• From 2009-2013, Child Protective Services agencies substantiated, or found strong evidence to indicate that, 63,000 children a year were victims of sexual abuse.
• A majority of child victims are 12-17. Of victims under the age of 18: 34% of victims of sexual assault and rape are under age 12, and 66% of victims of sexual assault and rape are age 12-17.

Warning signs that could lead to a sexual assault

• Often, abusive partners will try to cut the victim off from their support system.
• When male partners start discussing sexual assault.
• When male partners trying to limit their contraceptive options or refusing to use safer sexual practices
• When male partners start pressuring them to do things that make victims uncomfortable
• When partners controlling their means of communication, such as answering their phone or text messages or intruding into private conversations.
• When someone starts stalking and being around you without appropriate reason.
• When someone asks you to meet in private or isolated places
• When someone starts touching you physically without your consent
• When someone starts coming to your room/home without reason and ask you for sitting

Preventives for girls/women living alone:

• Stay alert. When you’re moving around in the surrounding neighborhood, be aware of your surroundings.
• If you’re alone, only use headphones in one ear to stay aware of your surroundings.
• Be careful about posting your location.
• Many social media sites, like Facebook and Foursquare, use geolocation to publicly share your location. Consider disabling this function and reviewing other social media settings.
• Give people time before you relying on them.
• Think about Plan B. Spend some time thinking about break-up plans for potentially sticky situations.
• If your phone dies, do you have a few numbers memorized to get help?
• Do you have emergency cash in case you can’t use a credit card?
• Do you have your address memorized?
• If you drive, is there a spare key hidden, gas in your car, and a set of jumper cables?
• Be secure. Lock your door and windows when you’re asleep and when you leave the room.
• Never share a smoke with anyone and never ask for cigarette (smoke) from anyone.
• Protect your drink. Don’t leave your drink unattended, and watch out for your friends’ drinks if you can. If you go to the bathroom or step outside, take the drink with you or toss it out. Drink from unopened containers or drinks you watched being made and poured. It’s not always possible to know if something has been added to someone’s drink. In drug-facilitated sexual assault, a perpetrator could use a substance that has no color, taste, or odor.
• Know your limits. Keep track of how many drinks you’ve had, and be aware of your friends’ behavior. If one of you feels extremely tired or more drunk than, you may have been drugged. Leave the party or situation and find help immediately.
• It’s okay to lie. If you want to exit a situation immediately and are concerned about frightening or upsetting someone, it’s okay to lie. You are never obligated to remain in a situation that makes you feel uncomfortable, pressured, or threatened. You can also lie to help a friend leave a situation that you think maybe dangerous. Some excuses you could use are needing to take care of another friend or family member, an urgent phone call, not feeling well, and having to be somewhere else by a certain time.

DND Thought Centre would try to provide its readers Psychological and social measures and warnings regarding “How to Avoid Sexual and Physical Violence”.