ISLAMABAD - The number of cases of human rights violations registered with the Ministry of Human Rights during the last three years stood at 37,618, according to the official documents.

The Ministry of Human Rights received the complaints through two mechanisms; Helpline for Legal Advice on Human Rights violations and National Commission for Human Rights. The Helpline (1099) received a total of 866,010 calls in the last three years out of which, 37,618 calls were related to human rights issues, said the official documents.

The Human Rights violations registered with concerned provincial/regional police departments are besides 37618 cases. The Helpline which primarily works to provide legal advice and referral services, after thorough examining, provided legal advice in 6888 cases while 29822 cases were referred to the relevant authorities for necessary action.

According to the documents, the helpline received 4571 such cases in the year 2017; 22,710 cases in 2018 and 10,337 cases in year 2019. As far as year 2017 is concerned, 293 cases pertained to ICT; 1105 to Punjab; 2573 to KPK; 573 to Sindh; 13 to Balochistan; 1 to GB; 11 to AJK and 2 to FATA. The year 2018 witnessed a sudden surge in number of cases pertaining to human rights violations as it jumped from 4571 in 2017 to 22,710 in 2018. Out of the 22710 cases, 1315 pertained to ICT, 14843 to Punjab, 4508 to KPK, 1947 to Sindh, 39 to Balochistan, 9 to GB, 40 to AJK, and 9 to FATA. The year 2019 recorded a decline in such cases as it witnessed a total of 10,337 cases out of which 828 were reported in ICT; 5866 in Punjab; 1772 in KPK; 1690 in Sindh; 91 in Balochistan; 8 in GB and 82 in AJK.   

The officials at the ministry said that all the complaints were dealt as per available laws. The Helpline, after thorough examining, provided legal advice in 6888 cases while 29822 cases referred to relevant authorities for necessary action and legal advice was provided in 908 cases.

The National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) also received 4281 such complaints during the last three years out of which 347 pertained to ICT; 2730 to Punjab; 677 to Sindh; 399 to KPK; 85 to Balochistan; 19 to FATA; 4 to GB; and 20 were received from abroad. NCHR took suo moto notice on 568 complaints.

Gender discrimination against women and harassment at workplaces is common in almost every sector. Women have to face physical and verbal abuse every single day on their way from home to the workplace and back.